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WebAssembly
Since the dawn of time, native applications have always delivered a larger-than-life performance compared to web applications. Any web application could never enable or scale to the full functionality of the device expected from apps like games, multi-media intensive apps, high data processing apps, etc. JavaScript wasn’t designed to be fast for very large applications.
“WebAssembly (or Wasm) is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine.” Wasm is a portable platform to compile high-level languages like C & C++ to be deployed on the web. The code will execute at speeds previously achieved by assembly programs. Web assembly doesn’t replace the way the web works; JavaScript will not be replaced, but rather an improvement to it.
Wasm is aimed to be efficient & fast. Web assembly includes a stack machine that encodes the code in load-time efficient binary format. This allows it to achieve native speeds. Web assembly is a sandboxed environment that guarantees safety of your device. It also will not allow cross-origin that makes the device vulnerable.
Wasm is built as a binary format. It’s very compact to download and also very efficient to compile & execute. Wasm enables speed in 2 areas; first in app start-up speed (2x or more) and secondly in throughput (compiled code runs faster). With Web assembly, we can now have real 64-bit integer data type, more control over memory management & smooth performance throughout the application.
With Wasm, developers across spectrums can bring their native C or C++ applications to the web & reach efficient performance capabilities of the device. This in-turn means no downloads, malwares, etc. as there is no need for installation on the device.
Implementing Wasm in our web project is a sequence of simple tasks:
- Write source code in your preferred high-level language (C, C++, Rust)
- Compile it into WebAssembly (will output a .wasm file)
- Include this .wasm in your web project
- Write Async JavaScript code in your web project to compile & execute the .wasm
Wasm is a revolutionary technology. It’s community keeps improving and adding new features at alarming speeds. Wasm is not the only technology of such nature; but it is the one backed by W3C and major company like Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc. Only time will tell what is in store for the future.
