Google has announced the release of an experimental Chromium build that includes an integrated Dart language runtime. The browser, which Google calls Dartium, is being made available as a technical preview for the benefit of developers who want to see how the Dart virtual machine works in a browser.
Dart is a new programming language that Google is developing for client-side Web scripting. The language has a more conventional object model than JavaScript and optional support for static typing, features that Google claims will allow it to be faster, safer, and more conducive to tooling than JavaScript. Much like Microsoft's VBScript, Dart is a nonstandard client language that is developed and supported by a single vendor outside of the Web standards process.
Google intends to include a Dart virtual machine in Chrome, but the language seems unlikely to attract the support of other browser vendors. Google is developing a compiler that will allow Dart code to be converted into JavaScript so that it can run in browsers where Dart is not supported. This "transpiler" approach is similar to how the CoffeeScript convenience language is used today.
Dartium, which includes an integrated Dart virtual machine, is the first browser that can run Dart code that hasn't first been converted to JavaScript. It can load raw Dart code from a conventional script tag. Dartium, which can be downloaded from the Dart language website, is currently available for Mac OS X and Linux. Google says that a Windows build is coming soon. For more details, you can refer to the official Google Code blog.
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