Google offers SDK for Dart language

Google is releasing a software development kit (SDK) for its one-year-old Dart programming language.

Google has pitched Dart as an alternative to JavaScript, but Dart has not had the kind of browser support that JavaScript has. "A year ago we released a technology preview of Dart, a project that includes a modern language, libraries, and tools for building complex Web applications. Today, after plowing through thousands of bug reports and feature requests from the web community, a new, more stable and comprehensive version of Dart is now available and ready to use," said Google software engineer Lars Bak.

The Dart SDK features a faster virtual machine, a Dart-to-JavaScript translator, and an HTML library that works transparently on browsers. Also featured are a library to interoperate with JavaScript code, an editor, a new package manager, and Dartium, which is a Chromium build with native Dart support. A server-side IO library also is featured along with a language specification describing Dart semantics.

Developers can download the Dart editor and SDK at the Dart website. Google plans to continue to evolve the SDK, improve Dart's performance and fine-tune the language while maintaining backward compatability,  Bak said.