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rewrite with more context
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MaryaBelanger authored and parlough committed Jan 24, 2023
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133 changes: 90 additions & 43 deletions src/web/js-interop.md
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Expand Up @@ -22,44 +22,69 @@ For help using the `js` package, see the following:
[js-api]: {{site.pub-api}}/js
[sass]: {{site.pub-pkg}}/sass

## Future-proof JS interop

Dart's JS interop story is currently evolving.
Many of the features that enable future JS interop,
and support of all three compilers,
are ready to use (Dart version 2.19).
To ease the transition to future JS interop,
you can refactor your code to conform to the
syntax and semantics of the new features now.
## Next-generation JS interop preview

{{site.alert.note}}
Future-proofing is for those *very* eager to
prepare their code for [Dart 3][], or to try
integrating with [`dart2wasm`][] before Dart 3.
None of this necessarily works *performantly* on
`dart2wasm` yet, but refactoring now means you
won't need to later, if that's important to you.
This interop feature is **experimental**,
and [in active development](https://github.com/dart-lang/sdk/issues/35084).
{{site.alert.end}}

Dart's JS interop story is currently evolving.
Many of the features that enable future JS interop
are ready to experiment with as of Dart version 2.19.
These features support the existing production
and development web compilers, as well as Dart's
in-progress Wasm compiler ([`dart2wasm`][]).

For a glimpse into the next generation of JS interop,
you can refactor your code to conform to the new
syntax and semantics now. Doing so will
likely not prevent the need to refactor again once
[Dart 3][] lands, as the features are still in development.
However, the features available for preview are much
closer to future JS interop than any pattern supported today,
so there are a few reasons to try them out now:
* Potentially ease transition of existing JS
interop code once migration becomes necessary.
* Existing JS interop developers eager to prepare their code for Dart 3.
* Existing JS interop developers eager to integrate with `dart2wasm`.
* New JS interop developers learning future JS interop
so they won't have to unlearn obsolete patterns in a few months.

The following sections are the set of features
expected to work across compilers for JS interop,
per library.
expected to work across compilers for JS interop.

*Requirements:*
* Dart SDK constraint: `>= 2.19`
* [`package:js`][] constraint: `>= 0.6.6`

[Dart 3]: https://medium.com/dartlang/the-road-to-dart-3-afdd580fbefa
[`dart2wasm`]: https://github.com/dart-lang/sdk/blob/main/pkg/dart2wasm/dart2wasm.md#running-dart2wasm
[Dart 3]: https://medium.com/dartlang/the-road-to-dart-3-afdd580fbefa
[`package:js`]: {{site.pub-pkg}}/js

### `package:js`

If you're interested in interop that will work with
`dart2wasm` when Dart 3 is released, you can implement
[static interop][] using the `package:js` annotation `@staticInterop`.
Static interop will be continually eveloving until Dart 3.
The key feature of next-generation JS interop is [static interop][].
We recommend using static interop as the default for `package:js`,
as it is more declaritive, more likely to be optimized,
more likely to perform better, and required for `dart2wasm`.
Static interop addresses several gaps in the existing JS interop story:

* **Missing features:** Static interop enables previously
unavailable features, like easily wrapping and transforming APIs,
renaming members, and static checking.

* **Inconsistencies:** Static interop makes backends more consistent,
so development and production web compilers won't behave as differently
as before.

* **Clarity:** JS interop uses Dart syntax in non-Dart contexts,
which can be cognitively challenging. Static interop doesn't
solve this yet, but the upcoming integration with inline-classes
will help make interop more idiomatic.

You can implement static interop using the `package:js`
annotation `@staticInterop`.
The set of features for future static interop currently includes:
* `@staticInterop` interfaces
* External factory constructors with and without `@anonymous`
Expand All @@ -70,29 +95,51 @@ The set of features for future static interop currently includes:
* Top-level external members
* [`@JSExport`][] for mocking and exports

To learn how to implement static interop and see examples,
visit the [static interop][] specification.

[static interop]: https://pub.dev/packages/js#staticinterop
[`@JSExport`]: https://pub.dev/packages/js#jsexport-and-js_utilcreatedartexport


### `dart:js_util`

If you're interested in refactoring your [`js_util`][]
interop code in preparation for Dart 3, the following
list of features for the library currently work:
* jsify
* dartify
* getProperty
* hasProperty
* setProperty
* callMethod
* callConstructor
* instanceof
* promiseToFuture
* globalThis
* newObject
* createStaticInteropMock
* createDartExport
* allowInterop

The library may continue to evolve before Dart 3.

[`js_util`]: https://pub.dev/packages/js_util
We recommend using static interop over `js_util`
in future JS interop.

However, since `js_util` provides lower-level
functionality than static interop, it can be
configured in a more granular, customizable way.
This means `js_util` could *potentially* help with
some rare edge cases we haven't accounted for yet,
that static interop won't be able to address.

For example, we may discover that some migrations are
easier to accomplish with `js_util`. Preexisting uses of
`dart:js` (now deprecated) can be replaced by a combination
of static interop and `dart:js_util`.
The former is what we recommend, but it may be easier
to automate migrations using the latter.

The following subset of `dart:js_util` features
currently work across the JS and Wasm compilers
for JS interop (more may be added before Dart 3):
* `jsify`
* `dartify`
* `getProperty`
* `hasProperty`
* `setProperty`
* `callMethod`
* `callConstructor`
* `instanceof`
* `promiseToFuture`
* `globalThis`
* `newObject`
* `createStaticInteropMock`
* `createDartExport`
* `allowInterop`

While `dart:js_util` is supported by `dart2wasm` in future interop,
it won't be as ergonomic, and won't be optimized for it.

[`js_util`]: {{site.dart-api}}/{{site.data.pkg-vers.SDK.channel}}/dart-js_util/dart-js_util-library.html

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