Tauri is experimenting with integrating Verso, a new build system designed for speed and reproducibility. This integration aims to significantly reduce build times and improve the developer experience by leveraging Verso's efficient caching and parallel processing capabilities. The initial results are promising, showing substantial improvements over existing build tools, particularly for larger projects. While still experimental, this integration represents a potential major advancement for Tauri development, streamlining the build process and allowing developers to iterate more quickly.
This blog post, titled "Experimental Tauri Verso Integration," details an exploratory effort to integrate the Verso browser engine with the Tauri application framework. Tauri is known for creating small, fast, and secure desktop applications by leveraging web technologies (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) for the user interface and Rust for the backend. Traditionally, Tauri has relied on WebKit as its embedded browser engine, which, while providing a stable and performant foundation, also presents some limitations regarding web compatibility and future extensibility. Verso, a novel browser engine currently in development, offers a potential alternative with intriguing advantages. Built on the foundations of the Flow browser, Servo, and Stylo, Verso aims to deliver improved performance, enhanced security, and modern web standards compliance.
The integration experiment, as described in the post, involves leveraging Verso's existing APIs and adapting them for seamless operation within the Tauri environment. This requires carefully coordinating the communication between the Rust backend of Tauri and the Verso browser engine. The authors highlight the challenges encountered during this integration process, particularly in bridging the communication gap and ensuring proper data exchange between the two components. They outline the specific adaptations made to Verso's API surface and the necessary modifications to Tauri's internal workings to accommodate this new browser engine. While acknowledging the experimental nature of the integration, the post emphasizes the potential benefits of using Verso, such as its modern architecture and future-proof design.
The blog post concludes by highlighting that the integration is still in its early stages, with considerable work remaining before it can be considered production-ready. Furthermore, the authors stress that the primary goal of this experiment is to explore the feasibility and potential benefits of using Verso, rather than immediately replacing WebKit. They express optimism about the future of this integration and invite community feedback and contributions to further the development of this potentially groundbreaking combination of technologies. The overall tone of the post suggests a cautious yet enthusiastic exploration of a promising avenue for enhancing Tauri's capabilities and ensuring its long-term viability in the evolving landscape of web and desktop application development.
Summary of Comments ( 30 )
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43518462
Hacker News users generally expressed excitement about the potential of Tauri's Verso integration, praising its memory safety and performance improvements. Several commenters discussed the trade-offs between native performance and web development ease, with some suggesting Verso could offer a sweet spot. Concerns were raised about the experimental nature of the integration and the potential for instability. Some users questioned the value proposition of Verso compared to existing solutions or simply using Webview directly. Others requested clarification on specific aspects of the integration, such as sandboxed WASM modules and the communication bridge. A few comments highlighted the challenges of JavaScript's tooling ecosystem, while others anticipated Verso streamlining Tauri development.
The Hacker News post "Experimental Tauri Verso Integration" discussing Tauri's integration with the Verso browser engine generated a moderate amount of discussion, with several commenters expressing interest and raising pertinent questions.
One of the most compelling threads revolved around the implications for Tauri's update mechanism. A user questioned how updates would function with Verso, particularly concerning the initial download size if the engine is bundled. This sparked a discussion about potential strategies, including differential updates and the possibility of leveraging the OS's system WebView. Another commenter highlighted the need for clear communication on update processes in the documentation, emphasizing the importance of transparency for developers. A Tauri team member then clarified that Verso would likely be shipped separately, with updates controlled by Tauri itself rather than relying on the system's WebView.
Another notable discussion focused on the performance implications of Verso. One commenter speculated that Verso's multi-process architecture could negatively impact startup performance, particularly for smaller apps. This concern was addressed by a Tauri contributor, who pointed out that multi-process architecture enhances security and stability, and that the team is actively working on optimizing Verso for both initial loading speed and runtime performance.
Other comments touched upon the licensing of Verso (MPL 2.0) and its potential impact on commercial projects, with some users inquiring about the implications for closed-source applications. A Tauri representative confirmed that MPL 2.0 is permissive enough for closed-source usage, aligning with Tauri's overall licensing strategy.
Further comments explored more nuanced aspects of the integration, including:
allowlistentries. This sparked a brief discussion about the security model of Verso and whether it inherently mitigates certain types of vulnerabilities.Overall, the comments demonstrate a significant interest in the Tauri-Verso integration, with a focus on practical considerations such as updates, performance, licensing, and security. Many commenters expressed excitement about the potential benefits of Verso, while also raising important questions that the Tauri team actively engaged with.