Adobe contributes virtual machine to Mozilla's Tamarin project

Adobe has contributed its virtual machine to Mozilla's Tamarin project.

Under the arrangement, Adobe will contribute source code from its ActionScript Virtual Machine, which uses the scripting language engine in FlashPlayer 9.

The virtual machine, now known as Tamarin, will be hosted by Mozilla, which said it will use the code in its "next-generation of SpiderMonkey, the core JavaScript engine embedded in Firefox, Mozilla's free Web browser, and other products based on Mozilla technology."

From there, Adobe's code will reside in Mozilla's source code repository. Adobe will also contribute a team of developers to the open source project. In the overview of the Tamarin Project, Mozilla said the following:

The Tamarin virtual machine currently implements the ECMAScript 3rd edition language standard that is the basis for JavaScript, Adobe ActionScript, and Microsoft Jscript, plus some of the new language features proposed in the ECMAScript 4th edition specification. By working on an open source implementation of ES4 with the community, Adobe and Mozilla hope to accelerate the adoption of a standard language for creating engaging Web applications. We hope the Tamarin project accelerates the ability of developers to create and deliver richer, more interactive experiences that work across multiple platforms.

The roadmap for the Tamarin project still needs to be cooked up, but it sounds like this effort is worth monitoring going forward. Here is the FAQ.

Ted Patrick, Flex evangelist at Adobe, has more background, but the goal for Adobe seems to be this: Open source its virtual machine code and become the defacto standard.