Web Assembly, the future of Web Technology ?

WebAssembly (also known as Wasm) is a new technology that is being developed to enable high-performance applications on the web. It is designed to be a low-level language that can be used to write efficient and safe code that can be run in web browsers.

WebAssembly is not intended to replace JavaScript, but rather to complement it and provide an alternative for certain types of applications.

WebAssembly (Wasm) is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine that allows developers to run compiled code in the browser or other environments at near-native speeds.

• WebAssembly is a low-level, assembly-like language that runs in web browsers and other environments.
• WebAssembly is a low-level language, which means it can be used to compile code written in a variety of higher-level languages, including C, C++, Rust, and TypeScript.
• WebAssembly can be used to create web applications that have previously been impossible or impractical to run in a web browser, such as applications with high-performance graphics or complex computations.
• WebAssembly has a growing ecosystem of tools, libraries, and frameworks that can be used to develop and deploy web applications. These include tools for debugging and performance analysis, as well as libraries for graphics, audio, and other common application needs.

Here is an example of how WebAssembly can be used to compile and run code written in a high-level language in a web browser

Suppose we have the following simple C++ function, which calculates the factorial of a given number:

factorial.cpp

int factorial(int n) {
    if (n == 0) {
        return 1;
    }
    return n * factorial(n - 1);
}

We can compile this function to WebAssembly using a tool such as Emscripten. This will generate a binary file (with a .wasm extension) that contains the compiled code.

To compile this code to WebAssembly, you would use a tool such as Emscripten. For example, you could use the following command:

emcc factorial.cpp -o factorial.wasm

To run this code in a web page, we can use the WebAssembly JavaScript API to load and instantiate the .wasm file. This will create an instance of the WebAssembly module, which we can then call like any other JavaScript function:

const wasmModule = await WebAssembly.instantiateStreaming(fetch('factorial.wasm'
));
const factorial = wasmModule.instance.exports.factorial;

console.log(factorial(5)); // 120

In this example, the factorial() function is compiled to WebAssembly and run in the browser, allowing us to perform high-performance calculations in the browser without the need for a plugin or other runtime.

Pros

• Fast and efficient execution of compiled code in the browser or other environments
• Supports a wide range of programming languages
• Supported by all major web browsers
• In short, WebAssembly allows developers to create high-performance web applications that can be deployed and run on a wide range of devices and platforms.

Cons

• Low-level language can be difficult to write and debug
• Primarily designed for use in web browsers, limiting flexibility and portability
• Relatively new and not as well-supported as other web development technologies

🔗 Related Link: https://webassembly.org/