IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Admiration for Fabrice Bellard's Genius and Productivity

Users overwhelmingly praise Bellard as a legendary, hyper-productive programmer across projects like FFmpeg, QEMU, and QuickJS, emphasizing his single-file style, breadth, and low profile. "If there were a software engineering hall of fame, I nominate Fabrice." (booi); "Fabrice Bellard is widely considered one of the most productive and versatile programmers alive" (ddtaylor); "Bellard it the most genius programmer to ever exist" (IlikeMadison).

2. Sandboxing and WASM Integration for MicroQuickJS

Key discussions focus on using MicroQuickJS for secure, resource-limited JS execution in WASM, embedded systems, and non-browser environments, outperforming native JS in some cases. "WebAssembly also runs in places other than the web, where there isn't a JavaScript interpreter at hand." (JoshTriplett); "Figma for example used QuickJS... to sandbox user authored Javascript plugins." (kettlecorn); "MicroQuickJS instantly struck me as a strong candidate [for sandboxing untrusted code]." (simonw).

3. Desire for a Simpler, Lighter Web Standard

Many lament web bloat and call for a minimal JS/HTML/CSS subset, Markdown-based alternatives, or "MicroWeb" browsers for speed and efficiency. "I wish for this new year we reboot the Web with a super light standard... A small and efficient JS subset, HTML, CSS." (alcover); "My idea is to use Markdown over HTTP(S)... a second web in a compatible way with simple browsers." (vbezhenar); "The big benefit... is the sheer level of speed and efficiency that a highly restricted 'lite web' browser could achieve." (cosmic_cheese).

🚀 Project Ideas

MicroQuickJS Python Sandbox

Summary

  • A Python library that embeds MicroQuickJS with configurable memory, CPU time, and filesystem/network restrictions for safely executing untrusted JS code (e.g., user scripts or LLM output).
  • Core value: Robust, lightweight sandbox outperforming V8 wrappers like STPyV8 in resource control and size, ideal for apps needing secure JS eval.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Python devs building apps with user/LLM scripts (e.g., simonw's use cases)
Core Feature FFI wrapper with limits: max_memory, max_cpu_ms, no_fs/network by default; eval_js() with isolation
Tech Stack Ctypes/ffi for MicroQuickJS; Python 3.10+; optional WASM via Pyodide/Wasmtime
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • "I'm currently on a multi-year side-quest to find safe ways to execute untrusted user-provided code in my Python and web applications." (simonw); addresses regex DoS, memory bombs.
  • High utility for Datasette-like tools; sparks HN debates on sandbox benchmarks vs. Deno/GraalVM.

LiteWeb Browser

Summary

  • A minimal browser engine rendering subset HTML4/CSS2/MicroQuickJS sites, optimized for speed on old hardware/embedded; supports Markdown-over-HTTP fallback.
  • Core value: Snappy browsing of simple sites (e.g., docs, READMEs) using <100MB RAM, revives "small web" dreams without bloat.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience HN users frustrated with web bloat; embedded devs, low-spec device owners
Core Feature Parser for HTML/CSS/JS subset; MicroQuickJS renderer; tabbed UI with doc tabs open forever
Tech Stack C/Rust with duktoape or MicroQuickJS; WebView for hybrid; Servo/Dillo fork
Difficulty High
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • "I wish for this new year we reboot the Web with a super light standard... A small and efficient JS subset" (alcover); "with such a browser you could probably have a dozen+ doc pages open" (cosmic_cheese).
  • Generates discussions on Gemini vs. lite-web; practical for docsites, old PCs.

EmbeddedJS MCU Toolkit

Summary

  • Toolkit compiling MicroQuickJS to MCU firmware with bindings for GPIO/I2C/SPI (ESP32/Arduino), enabling JS scripting without Lua/MicroPython overhead.
  • Core value: Tiny (10KB) JS runtime for IoT prototyping; cross-compile to WASM for sim/exaequOS testing.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Embedded hackers targeting ESP32/RP2040; JS fans avoiding C/Rust
Core Feature JS API: digitalWrite(pin, val), i2cRead(addr); REPL over UART; WASM export
Tech Stack MicroQuickJS + ESP-IDF/Arduino; Emscripten for WASM; PlatformIO CLI
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium (basic free, pro bindings $5/mo)

Notes

  • "does something like this open up the possibility of programming an esp32/arduino board with Javascript" (MattGrommes); ties to Espruino/ELK but smaller/faster.
  • Utility for quick IoT scripts; HN loves Bellard ports, potential for raylib-like demos.

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