

Tell HN: The hidden meaning of Google Closure == Closed Source - ice_man

While closure is itself open-source, the compiled output it generates with advanced optimizations enabled is obfuscated beyond recognition.  A top-level function may get renamed to a single-character like "a", or simply inlined.<p>If you've tried reading the JS source code for Google Maps, for example, then you know what I mean.  The net effect is that the JS code becomes analogous to binary files -- effectively unparsable by humans without effort that is greater than starting from scratch.<p>I think that the release of Google Closure is ushering with it a new era of web applications whose source code is as good as opaque to human eyes.<p>I don't have a blog, so I figured I'd just blurt it on here.<p>Thoughts?
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nar
That's just javascript minimization. Standard way of reducing page load times.
It's been around way longer than Google Closure, just look at YUI Compressor.

It may stop anyone from looking at a page's source code, but I'd think most
developers would put greatly reducing load times ahead of having your
javascript being freely read.

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yan
I don't see it as an issue. When something is "open source" it's always with
the consent of the author and they'll still publish the source. Will this make
it harder for you to peep to see what web apps are doing? Probably, but this
isn't a licensing or an 'open source' issue.

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ice_man
Yes, but before Google Closure, the internet was "open source" by default. I
mean am using "open source" as a strict antonym to "closed source" rather than
in the legal sense. With Google Closure, developers for the first time have a
practical option of making the source code of their application unparsable to
the human eye. Despite the fact that it is illegal to download MP3s, 95% of
all MP3 downloads. Now imagine if it was _impossible_ to download MP3s
illegally -- it would significantly impact the music industry. Analogously,
Google Closure makes it virtually impossible to read the source code of
websites. Given that the entire Microsoft Monopoly was founded on the fact
that its source code was unreadable to the public, I think the implications of
this are significant.

