Web 2.0
If you don’t already know, most of the web 2.0 technologies today are built on top of javascript. Javascript is scripting language that browsers use to perform the more advanced features of a website. All of the pretty CCS layouts, the XML traffic, and of course the constant tweeting and face-booking would not be possible without this language and the support browsers provide for it.
Browsers
As most of us know, different browsers render pages differently, some are more efficient then others at different tasks, and some are more secure. Some of the bigger players come pre installed on the os of your choosing, while others sit quietly behind the scenes and wait for the few followers to download them. In any case, one thing is universal, each and every browser is ultimately different then the other.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is a way to test the speed and efficiency of a task. Benchmarking javascript, up until recently, was almost impossible. There have been lots of micro benchmarks here and there, but no true test that sums of the speed of the javascript engine in a browser.
WebKit Open Source Project
Webkit.org is the home of the open source web browser engine developer by Apple, currently used in Safari and multiple OS X applications. One of the tools it provides is the SunSpider Javascript Benchmark, a true representation of a browsers javascript performance. By testing multiple facets of a browsers javascript processing speed, we can gain a balanced real world comparison between the different processing speeds different browsers offer.
Chart in milliseconds (Lower means quicker – total was divided by 5 to fit nicely in chart)
Raw Numbers
| 3D | Access | Bitops | ControlFlow | Crypto | Date | Math | Regexp | String | Total | |
| Internet Explorer 9 Beta | 440.6 | 544.6 | 489.4 | 86.6 | 245 | 183.2 | 270.8 | 39 | 466.4 | 2765.4 |
| Internet Explorer 8 | 668.4 | 929.6 | 725.4 | 139 | 389.8 | 474.2 | 595 | 208 | 1012 | 5141.6 |
| Firefox 3.6 | 165.4 | 165.4 | 51.8 | 47 | 65.8 | 164.4 | 68.6 | 56.8 | 279 | 1064.2 |
| Safari 4.0 | 71.8 | 60 | 37.4 | 6.2 | 40 | 78.4 | 61.6 | 26.2 | 210.6 | 592.2 |
| Chrome 4.1 | 81.6 | 43.4 | 48.4 | 3.4 | 38.4 | 67.6 | 504 | 18 | 193.8 | 545 |
| Opera 10.51 | 62.2 | 53 | 23.2 | 5.8 | 30 | 69 | 56.6 | 15.6 | 153.6 | 469 |
Conclusion
As you can see, not all browsers perform at the same speed. Lagging far behind is Microsofts Internet Explorer 8. While IE 9 promises, and in tech previews proves to have made huge leaps in closing the gap behind the other leading browsers, it suffers from slow release cycles. The other leading browsers push routine updates which enables the end user to browse at the fastest speeds available while IE leaves months, or years in between version releases.
The true test of speed is yet to come. As more Twitter and Facebook sites pop up, and web 3.0 inches closer, it is up to the browser developers to ensure they keep up with the new demands for speed and efficiency.