Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and the WebKit project have launched WebAssembly, a new binary format for compiling Web applications. The new format has two benefits: First, it will allow developers to write Web applications in non-Web languages, starting with C/C++. Second, it should be much faster than JavaScript tools like asm.js. In fact, the current prototype is up to 23 times faster than asm.js.
Eventually, WebAssembly could become a new Web standard. With all of the major browser developers involved in the project, that goal looks very achievable.