New Website for JavaScript Sputnik Test Suite

Mar 15, 2010

Google has brought a new website online where users can run the Sputnik JavaScript test suite.

The sputnik.googlelabs.com site allows users to test their browsers' JavaScript capabilities against the ECMA-262 script language specification. The ECMA-262 specification of the European Computer Manufacturers Association describes a platform- and provider-independent scripting language.

New website for running the Sputnik JavaScript test suite.

After the release of Sputnik in September 2009 as an open source project, one of the most requested features was conducting the test right in the browser, according to Google developer and project owner Christian Plesner Hansen in his Chromium blog announcing the new website. He describes the Sputnik test as a complement to other testing suites such as Acid3. The Sputnik test is not so much about the JavaScript execution speed then about its accuracy. Before the website went online, interested parties needed to download the test software from the Google Code project page.

According to previous results (performed under Windows XP), Opera hit the target in browser performance better than Internet Explorer. (Source: sputnik.googlelabs.com)

The test still rated the browser conformity against version 3 of the specification. In December 2009, ECMA-262 version 5 was released and the Chrome project is currently updating the test suite to that version. A raging discussion is already ensuing in Hansen's announcement blog about Opera's stellar performance but unfortunate lack of recognition on the Web.

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Comments

  • Sputnik

    Sputnik touches all aspects of the JavaScript language defined in the third edition of the ECMA-262 spec. In many ways it can be seen as a continuation of and a complement to existing browser conformance testing tools, such as the Acid3 test. While they are always focused on improving speed, Sputnik is not about testing how fast particular browser executes JavaScript, but rather whether it does so correctly. On this site http://autoinsb.com/ javascript executes without any problem.
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