a web worker is a JavaScript running in the background, without affecting the performance of the page
similar to: Browser Application - Service Workers
Example Code
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<p>Count numbers: <output id="result"></output></p>
<button onclick="startWorker()">Start Worker</button>
<button onclick="stopWorker()">Stop Worker</button>
<script src="script.js"></script>
</body>
</html>var w;
function startWorker() {
if (typeof(Worker) !== "undefined") {
if (typeof(w) == "undefined") {
w = new Worker("demo_workers.js");
}
w.onmessage = function(event) {
document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = event.data;
};
} else {
document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "Sorry! No Web Worker support.";
}
}
function stopWorker() {
w.terminate();
w = undefined;
}var i = 0;
function timedCount() {
i = i + 1;
postMessage(i);
setTimeout("timedCount()",500);
}
timedCount();