Dart2JS and IE8

Question

So I'm researching new frameworks and am really impressed with what I've read about Dart. Of course, I have to support at least IE8, and Dart doesn't seem to provide that. I was wondering why exactly that is. Is it just because it compiles to ES5? Would some simple polyfills fix that?

Answer 1

(Thank's for checking out Dart, we're glad you like what you see!)

Dart is from the future, today. Look at any trends, and one thing is clear: mobile, mobile, mobile. Oh, and also modern browsers that auto-update.

Spending any time working on legacy browsers, with their outdated JavaScript engines and feeble support for HTML5 (if any), means we're not spending time working on a comprehensive platform for developers to build apps that wow users. We believe that user expectations are high, and the only way to meet and exceed them is to build a platform that runs on modern JavaScript engines and can exploit the wide array of HTML5 features. You just can't build a fantastic experience that shows off the power of the modern web and support legacy browsers.

For a quick fix, encourage your users who are stuck on legacy browsers to install Chrome Frame. Or, better yet, encourage them to upgrade their browsers.

As to what prevents Dart from being used in legacy browsers:

• Lack of testing. Our buildbots don't test against legacy browsers.
• Lack of ES5 JavaScript engines.
• Manpower. Our resources are better used building for modern web browsers.

I'm not sure if we explored if an ES5 shim would work. We'd love to hear from the community if they get this to work, though.