With Chrome 14, Chrome team introduced a very innovative feature in stable channel of Google Chrome browser – the Native Client (NaCl). As we reported earlier, this feature takes Chrome to a new level by enabling execution of C/C++ codes (native code) directly in the browser. This feature is going to benefit web application developers and game developers, as the native code is executed faster than the existing web languages. Read more about this here.
Native Client Apps/Games
It seems that the developers are taking long time to bring native client apps and games in the Chrome Web Store (CWS). Although, native client technology is quite developer-friendly, as it offers a dedicated Native Client SDK and supports existing libraries of C/C++. We can see just few NaCl apps in the CWS:
- SodaSynth: It is a synthesizer and live looper that allows you to jam and quickly make cool recordings.
- Nethack: popular NetHack console application ported to Chrome.
- ScummVM: Play games like Beneath a Steel Sky and Lure of the Temptress right in your browser.
- Colossal Cave Adventure: NaCl version of Colossal Cave Adventure, the original text adventure first developed in FORTRAN in the 1970s.
Currently, Chrome runs NaCl apps installed from Chrome Web Store only. Users of dev channel of Chrome can enable the “Native Client” flag from chrome://flag page. This enables Native Client for all web applications, even those that were not installed from the CWS.
