If you’re a developer, you have probably heard of the term ‘Hermes JS Engine’. Hermes is an open-source JavaScript engine that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. In this article, we will dive deep into what Hermes JS Engine is and how it works.
What is Hermes JS Engine?
Hermes is an open-source JavaScript engine that was developed by Facebook. It was specifically designed to be used with React Native, Facebook’s popular mobile app development framework. The primary goal of the engine is to improve the performance of React Native applications.
How Does Hermes Work?
Unlike other JavaScript engines like V8 or SpiderMonkey, Hermes uses ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation instead of just-in-time (JIT) compilation. Essentially, this means that code is compiled before it’s executed, rather than during runtime.
This approach has several advantages over JIT compilation. For one, it removes the need for a separate compilation step on the user’s device. This can lead to faster startup times and better overall performance.
Another advantage is that AOT-compiled code can be optimized more aggressively than JIT-compiled code. This means that Hermes can make more optimizations to improve performance while still maintaining a smaller memory footprint.
Benefits of Using Hermes
There are several benefits to using Hermes in your React Native projects. One of the biggest benefits is improved performance. By using AOT compilation and making aggressive optimizations, Hermes can provide significant speed improvements over other JavaScript engines.
Another benefit is reduced memory usage. Because AOT-compiled code doesn’t require as much memory as JIT-compiled code, apps built with Hermes can have a smaller memory footprint overall.
Finally, using Hermes can simplify your development process by removing the need for a separate compilation step on user devices. This makes it easier to deploy updates to your app and ensures that users always have the latest version of your code.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Hermes is an open-source JavaScript engine that was developed by Facebook to improve the performance of React Native applications. By using ahead-of-time compilation and aggressive optimizations, Hermes can provide significant speed improvements and reduced memory usage over other JavaScript engines. If you’re developing a React Native app, it’s worth considering using Hermes to improve your app’s performance and simplify your development process.