Google Native Client

Google Native Client (NaCl) is a discontinued <a href="/facts/Sandbox_(computer_security)/WEm2u7oG">sandboxing</a> technology for running either a subset of Intel <a href="/facts/X86/Kypq5fgu">x86</a>, <a href="/facts/ARM_architecture/SALsYA79">ARM</a>, or <a href="/facts/MIPS_architecture/efV4KgK4">MIPS</a> native code, or a portable executable, in a sandbox. It allows safely running <a href="/facts/Native_code/bgdQ1Fxf">native code</a> from a <a href="/facts/Web_browser/2pfyymLs">web browser</a>, independent of the user <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a>, allowing <a href="/facts/Web_app/BLkF3BIN">web apps</a> to run at near-native speeds, which aligns with Google's plans for <a href="/facts/ChromeOS/zH0B5Xtk">ChromeOS</a>. It may also be used for securing browser <a href="/facts/Plug-in_(computing)/351Du3Wu">plugins</a>, and parts of other applications or full applications such as <a href="/facts/ZeroVM/L1bF9YKc">ZeroVM</a>.
To demonstrate the readiness of the technology, on 9 December 2011, Google announced the availability of several new Chrome-only versions of <a href="/facts/Videogame/vmTdNASJ">games</a> known for their rich and <a href="/facts/Central_processing_unit/Jxp1bqMV">processor</a>-intensive <a href="/facts/Computer_graphics/lapBE8wv">graphics</a>, including <a href="/facts/Bastion_(video_game)/mDwNwC7w">Bastion</a> (no longer supported on the <a href="/facts/Chrome_Web_Store/Efrkwe5p">Chrome Web Store</a>). NaCl runs <a href="/facts/Hardware_acceleration_(computing)/ej5sM7hB">hardware-accelerated</a> 3D graphics (via <a href="/facts/OpenGL_ES/DRkjxUFb">OpenGL ES</a> 2.0), sandboxed local file storage, <a href="/facts/Dynamic_loading/mJ9bcYuv">dynamic loading</a>, full screen mode, and <a href="/facts/Computer_mouse/fJpa1tUE">mouse</a> capture. There were also plans to make NaCl available on handheld devices.
Portable Native Client (PNaCl) is an architecture-independent version. PNaCl apps are <a href="/facts/Ahead-of-time_compilation/RmP02P47">compiled ahead-of-time</a>. PNaCl is recommended over NaCl for most use cases. The general concept of NaCl (running native code in web browser) has been implemented before in <a href="/facts/ActiveX/xJb7t7Eh">ActiveX</a>, which, while still in use, has full access to the system (disk, memory, user-interface, registry, etc.). Native Client avoids this issue by using sandboxing.
An alternative by Mozilla was <a href="/facts/Asm.js/3JPPBArN">asm.js</a>, which also allows applications written in <a href="/facts/C_(programming_language)/Ky2No763">C</a> or <a href="/facts/C%252B%252B/Et0F2qn9">C++</a> to be compiled to run in the browser and also supports ahead-of-time compilation, but is a subset of JavaScript and hence backwards-compatible with browsers that do not support it directly.
On 12 October 2016, a comment on the Chromium issue tracker indicated that Google's Pepper and Native Client teams had been destaffed. On 30 May 2017, Google announced deprecation of PNaCl in favor of <a href="/facts/WebAssembly/7ukwnxY9">WebAssembly</a>. Although initially Google planned to remove PNaCl in first quarter of 2018, and later in the second quarter of 2019, it has been removed in June 2022 (together with <a href="/facts/Google_Chrome_App/K3NJbslp">Chrome Apps</a>).

Google Native Client open-in-new

Google Native Client