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Diffstat (limited to 'native_client_sdk/src/doc/faq.rst')
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1 files changed, 81 insertions, 79 deletions
diff --git a/native_client_sdk/src/doc/faq.rst b/native_client_sdk/src/doc/faq.rst index 37b84fe..640c794 100644 --- a/native_client_sdk/src/doc/faq.rst +++ b/native_client_sdk/src/doc/faq.rst @@ -70,28 +70,32 @@ Portable Native client further enhances the above: For more details, refer to the :doc:`history behind and comparison of NaCl and PNaCl <nacl-and-pnacl>`. -When should I use Native Client? --------------------------------- +When should I use Portable Native Client instead of Native Client? +------------------------------------------------------------------ + +See :doc:`NaCl and PNaCl <nacl-and-pnacl>`. In short: PNaCl works on the Open +Web platform delivered by Chrome whereas NaCl only works on the Chrome Web +Store. + +When should I use Portable Native Client / Native Client? +--------------------------------------------------------- The following are some typical use cases. For details, see the :doc:`Technical Overview <overview>`. -* Porting existing software components for use in a web application. -* Porting legacy desktop applications. -* Handling browser-side encryption and decryption for an enterprise - application. -* Handling multimedia for a web application. -* Handling various aspects of web-based games, including physics engines - and AI. +* Porting existing applications or software components, written in C/C++ or + virtual machines written in C/C++, for use in a web application. +* Using compute-intensive applications, including threads and SIMD, such as: -Native Client is a versatile technology; we expect that it will also be -used in many other contexts outside of Chrome. + * Scientific computing. + * Handling multimedia for a web application. + * Various aspects of web-based games, including physics engines and AI. -When should I use Portable Native Client? ------------------------------------------ +* Running untrusted code on a server or within an application (such as a plugin + system for a game). -See :doc:`NaCl and PNaCl <nacl-and-pnacl>`. In short: PNaCl works on the -open web whereas NaCl only works on the Chrome Web Store. +Portable Native Client and Native Client are versatile technologies which are +used in many other contexts outside of Chrome. How fast does code run in Portable Native Client? ------------------------------------------------- @@ -119,10 +123,9 @@ native code such as :ref:`threading <language_support_threading>` and For details, see: -* `Adapting Software Fault Isolation to Contemporary CPU Architectures - <https://nativeclient.googlecode.com/svn/data/site/NaCl_SFI.pdf>`_ (PDF). -* `Native Client: A Sandbox for Portable, Untrusted x86 Code - <http://research.google.com/pubs/pub34913.html>`_ (PDF). +* `PNaCl SIMD: Speed on the Web`_. +* `Adapting Software Fault Isolation to Contemporary CPU Architectures`_ (PDF). +* `Native Client: A Sandbox for Portable, Untrusted x86 Code`_ (PDF). If your code isn't performing as close to native speed as you'd expect, :doc:`let us know <help>`! @@ -158,11 +161,12 @@ Development Environments and Tools What development environment and development operating system do you recommend? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -You can develop on Windows, Mac, or Linux, and the resulting Native -Client or Portable Native Client application will run inside the Google -Chrome browser on all those platforms as well as ChromeOS. You can also -develop on ChromeOS with Crouton_, and we're working on -self-hosting a full development environment on Portable Native Client. +You can develop on Windows, Mac, or Linux, and the resulting Native Client or +Portable Native Client application will run inside the Google Chrome browser on +all those platforms as well as ChromeOS. You can also develop on ChromeOS with +Crouton_ or our `experimental development environment which runs within NaCl`_, +and we're working on self-hosting a full development environment on Portable +Native Client. Any editor+shell combination should work as well as IDEs like Eclipse, Visual Studio with the :doc:`Native Client Add-In @@ -176,10 +180,9 @@ instructions <devguide/devcycle/building>` useful, and you can look at the code and Makefiles for the SDK examples to understand how the examples are built and run. -You'll need to learn how to use some tools (like GCC, LLVM, make, -Eclipse, Visual Studio, or Xcode) before you can get very far with the -SDK. Try seaching for an `introduction to GCC -<https://www.google.com/search?q=gcc+introduction>`_. +You'll need to learn how to use some tools (like GCC, LLVM, make, Eclipse, +Visual Studio, or Xcode) before you can get very far with the SDK. Try seaching +for an `introduction to GCC`_. Openness, and Supported Architectures and Languages @@ -224,26 +227,19 @@ it's platform-independent, and we'd like it to stay that way. Do I have to use C or C++? I'd really like to use another language. ------------------------------------------------------------------- -Right now only C and C++ are supported directly by the toolchain in the -SDK. C# and other languages in the .NET family are supported via the -`Mono port <https://github.com/elijahtaylor/mono>`_ for Native -Client. Moreover, there are several ongoing projects to support -additional language runtimes (e.g. `naclports supports Lua, Python and -Ruby -<https://code.google.com/p/naclports/source/browse#svn%2Ftrunk%2Fsrc%2Fexamples%2Ftools>`_) -as well as to compile more languages to LLVM's intermediate -representation (e.g. support Haskell with `GHC -<http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/latest/html/users_guide/code-generators.html>`_ -or support Fortran with `flang -<https://flang-gsoc.blogspot.ie/2013/09/end-of-gsoc-report.html>`_), or +Right now only C and C++ are supported directly by the toolchain in the SDK. C# +and other languages in the .NET family are supported via the `Mono port`_ for +Native Client. Moreover, there are several ongoing projects to support +additional language runtimes (e.g. `naclports supports Lua, Python and Ruby`_) +as well as to compile more languages to LLVM's intermediate representation +(e.g. support Halide_, Haskell with GHC_ or support Fortran with flang_), or transpile languages to C/C++ (source-to-source compilation). If you're interested in getting other languages working, please contact the -Native Client team by way of the `native-client-discuss mailing list -<https://groups.google.com/group/native-client-discuss>`_. +Native Client team by way of the native-client-discuss_ mailing list. -Will you only support Chrome? What about other browsers? --------------------------------------------------------- +Do you only support Chrome? What about other browsers? +------------------------------------------------------ We aim to support multiple browsers. However, a number of features that we consider requirements for a production-quality system that keeps the @@ -265,9 +261,7 @@ Client has transitioned from using NPAPI to using Pepper. Is NPAPI part of the Native Client SDK? --------------------------------------- -NPAPI is not supported by the Native Client SDK, and is `deprecated in -Chrome -<http://blog.chromium.org/2013/09/saying-goodbye-to-our-old-friend-npapi.html>`_. +NPAPI is not supported by the Native Client SDK, and is `deprecated in Chrome`_. Does Native Client support SIMD vector instructions? ---------------------------------------------------- @@ -281,21 +275,18 @@ Portable Native Client supports portable SIMD vectors, as detailed in Can I use Native Client for 3D graphics? ---------------------------------------- -Yes. Native Client supports `OpenGL ES 2.0 -<https://www.khronos.org/opengles/>`_. +Yes. Native Client supports `OpenGL ES 2.0`_. To alert the user regarding their hardware platform's 3D feature set before loading a large NaCl application, see :doc:`Vetting the driver in Javascript <devguide/coding/3D-graphics>`. -Some GL extensions are exposed to Native Client applications, see the -`GLES2 file -<https://src.chromium.org/viewvc/chrome/trunk/src/ppapi/lib/gl/gles2/gles2.c>`_. -This file is part of the GL wrapper supplied by the library -``ppapi_gles2`` which you'll want to include in your project. In most -cases extensions map to extensions available on other platforms, or -differ very slightly (if they differ, the extension is usually CHROMIUM -or ANGLE instead of EXT). +Some GL extensions are exposed to Native Client applications, see the `GLES2 +file`_. This file is part of the GL wrapper supplied by the library +``ppapi_gles2`` which you'll want to include in your project. In most cases +extensions map to extensions available on other platforms, or differ very +slightly (if they differ, the extension is usually CHROMIUM or ANGLE instead of +EXT). .. TODO Improve documentation for GL extensions. @@ -347,11 +338,8 @@ information to Google: Google counts the number of such crashes, but does so anonymously without sending your application's data or its debug information. -For additional information about privacy and Chrome, see the `Google -Chrome privacy policy -<https://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/privacy.html>`_ and the `Google -Chrome Terms of Service -<https://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/eula_text.html>`_. +For additional information about privacy and Chrome, see the `Google Chrome +privacy policy`_ and the `Google Chrome Terms of Service`_. How does Native Client prevent sandboxed code from doing Bad Things? -------------------------------------------------------------------- @@ -380,27 +368,25 @@ even the ``.pexe`` to ``.nexe`` translator, a simplified compiler backend, isn't trusted: it is validated before executing, and so is its output. -In addition to static analysis of untrusted code, the Native Client -runtime also includes an outer sandbox that mediates system calls. For -more details about both sandboxes, see `Native Client: A Sandbox for -Portable, Untrusted x86 Code <http://research.google.com/pubs/pub34913.html>`_ +In addition to static analysis of untrusted code, the Native Client runtime also +includes an outer sandbox that mediates system calls. For more details about +both sandboxes, see `Native Client: A Sandbox for Portable, Untrusted x86 Code`_ (PDF). How does Google know that the safety measures in Native Client are sufficient? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -Google has taken several steps to ensure that Native Client's security -works, including: +Google has taken several steps to ensure that Native Client's security works, +including: * Open source, peer-reviewed papers describing the design. * A :doc:`security contest <community/security-contest/index>`. * Multiple internal and external security reviews. * The ongoing vigilance of our engineering and developer community. -Google is committed to making Native Client safer than JavaScript and -other popular browser technologies. If you have suggestions for security -improvements, let the team know, by way of the `native-client-discuss -mailing list <https://groups.google.com/group/native-client-discuss>`_. +Google is committed to making Native Client safer than JavaScript and other +popular browser technologies. If you have suggestions for security improvements, +let the team know, by way of the native-client-discuss_ mailing list. Development =========== @@ -456,11 +442,10 @@ the standard UNIX ``mmap()`` system call. Is my favorite third-party library available for Native Client? --------------------------------------------------------------- -Google has ported several third-party libraries to Native Client; such -libraries are available in the naclports_ project. We encourage you to -contribute libraries to naclports, and/or to host your own ported -libraries, and to `let the team know about it -<https://groups.google.com/group/native-client-discuss>`_ when you do. +Google has ported several third-party libraries to Native Client; such libraries +are available in the naclports_ project. We encourage you to contribute +libraries to naclports, and/or to host your own ported libraries, and to let the +team know about it on native-client-discuss_ when you do. Do all the files in an application need to be served from the same domain? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- @@ -571,6 +556,23 @@ Here are ways to resolve some common problems that can prevent loading: Client. * If things still aren't working, :doc:`ask for help <help>`! -.. _CORS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-origin_resource_sharing -.. _naclports: https://code.google.com/p/naclports + +.. _`PNaCl SIMD: Speed on the Web`: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=675znN6tntw&list=PLOU2XLYxmsIIwGK7v7jg3gQvIAWJzdat_ +.. _Adapting Software Fault Isolation to Contemporary CPU Architectures: https://nativeclient.googlecode.com/svn/data/site/NaCl_SFI.pdf +.. _`Native Client: A Sandbox for Portable, Untrusted x86 Code`: http://research.google.com/pubs/pub34913.html .. _Crouton: https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton +.. _experimental development environment which runs within NaCl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzNuzBDEWzk&list=PLOU2XLYxmsIIwGK7v7jg3gQvIAWJzdat_ +.. _introduction to GCC: https://www.google.com/search?q=gcc+introduction +.. _Mono port: https://github.com/elijahtaylor/mono +.. _naclports supports Lua, Python and Ruby: https://code.google.com/p/naclports/source/browse#svn%2Ftrunk%2Fsrc%2Fexamples%2Ftools +.. _Halide: http://halide-lang.org/ +.. _GHC: http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/latest/html/users_guide/code-generators.html +.. _flang: https://flang-gsoc.blogspot.ie/2013/09/end-of-gsoc-report.html +.. _native-client-discuss: https://groups.google.com/group/native-client-discuss +.. _deprecated in Chrome: http://blog.chromium.org/2013/09/saying-goodbye-to-our-old-friend-npapi.html +.. _OpenGL ES 2.0: https://www.khronos.org/opengles/ +.. _GLES2 file: https://code.google.com/p/chromium/codesearch#chromium/src/ppapi/lib/gl/gles2/gles2.c +.. _Google Chrome privacy policy: https://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/privacy.html +.. _Google Chrome Terms of Service: https://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/eula_text.html +.. _naclports: https://code.google.com/p/naclports +.. _CORS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-origin_resource_sharing |