Zane

Zane (/zeɪn/, pronounced zayn) — a V8-first JavaScript runtime for Windows and Linux. Not a Node.js fork. Behavioral compatibility with node:* APIs.

Philosophy: V8-first

Zane embraces V8 as its foundation, not as an implementation detail. Rather than wrapping a Node.js compatibility layer around V8, we build directly on V8's C++ API. This means:

• No hidden event loop abstraction — V8's microtask queue is explicit
• No legacy API baggage — every API is designed for modern JavaScript
• Full control over memory and handles — v8::Global, v8::Persistent, explicit lifetime management
• Zero unnecessary abstraction — what V8 gives, Zane uses directly

Features

• Pure C++17/20 — zero overhead, built with the latest MSVC toolchain
• Monolithic build — single zane.exe, no DLL dependencies
• Builtin HTTP server — Zane.serve({ fetch, port }) with hand-written HTTP/1.1 parser
• Custom HTTP parser (libs/http) — no llhttp, no code generation, pure C++ state machine
• Temporal enabled — ready for next-generation JS date/time APIs
• Trantor networking — async I/O via epoll/IOCP-based event loop
• Node.js behavioral compatibility — node:* modules (fs, path, os, buffer, events, stream, zlib, process) with matching API surface, not source fork
• Zane Context — optimized default environment with essential APIs (console, Zane.*)

Project Structure

src/
├── main.cpp                    # Entry point
├── module/
│   ├── builtin/                # Zane builtins (Zane.* namespace)
│   │   └── server/             # Zane.serve() — Request, Response, Server
│   ├── node/                   # Node.js-compatible modules (node:*)
│   ├── timer.cpp               # setTimeout/setInterval
│   └── console.cpp             # console.log/debug/error
├── temporal_shims.cpp           # V8 Temporal API stubs
├── utility.hpp                  # LIFETIME_BOUND, ScopeGuard, NotNull
libs/
├── http/                        # Zane-HTTPParser (git submodule)
└── deps/                        # Third-party (zlib, brotli, zstd, trantor)
tools/
├── build.ps1                    # Incremental build script
└── check_style.py               # C++ coding style checker
docs/
└── SERVER_MODULE.md             # Builtin server architecture

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio 2022/2026 with "Desktop development with C++" workload
• Python 3.x (for V8 shim extraction)
• V8 Artifacts from v8-zane

Building

Open Developer PowerShell for Visual Studio and run:

.\build.ps1

The resulting zane.exe will be created in the root directory.

Running

.\zane.exe main.js

Example: HTTP Server

Zane.serve({
  port: 3000,
  fetch(req, res) {
    console.log(req.method, req.url);
    res.send("Hello from Zane!");
  }
});

.\zane.exe server.js
curl http://localhost:3000/

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Zane: V8 — A Gift from Google.