From Static Hermes to Hermes V1 - The Road to Default

Learn about the evolution of Hermes JavaScript engine from its experimental "Static Hermes" phase to the upcoming Hermes V1 release in this conference talk by Nicola Corti from Meta. Discover how two years of performance improvements from the static exploration branch are finally being delivered to React Native developers through Hermes V1, which is currently available as an experimental feature in React Native 0.82. Understand the current limitations requiring developers to build from source to test the new engine, which temporarily slows build processes but is necessary for gathering feedback from large-scale applications. Explore the significant improvements coming with Hermes V1, including native support for JavaScript methods like Set and Map that will eliminate the need for polyfills. Get insights into Meta's roadmap for making Hermes V1 the stable default engine within 2-3 releases, targeting early 2026 for widespread adoption across the React Native ecosystem.