It's a fairly simple optimization - it's still JavaScript, just compressed and somewhat pre-parsed.
The author of Smalltalk/X proposed this for Smalltalk at one of the Camp Smalltalk meetups about 17 years ago. Doing this for Javascript would also facilitate the running of other languages which use Javascript as a compiler target, providing 1st class debugging support for other languages as a side effect.
No link. We were all stuffed into a La Quinta Inn in San Diego, running ethernet between the balconies. There was just a bunch of us crowded into a motel room, and he just started talking about it.
The author of Smalltalk/X proposed this for Smalltalk at one of the Camp Smalltalk meetups about 17 years ago. Doing this for Javascript would also facilitate the running of other languages which use Javascript as a compiler target, providing 1st class debugging support for other languages as a side effect.