WebAssembly

WebAssembly: Low-Level Assembly Language for Web Browsers

WebAssembly is a low-level assembly-like language that runs in web browsers. It allows developers to write code in languages like C/C++ and Rust and compile it to WebAssembly, which runs at near-native speed in the browser.

What is WebAssembly?

WebAssembly is a binary instruction format for the web. It allows developers to compile code written in languages like C/C++ and Rust into a binary format that can be executed in web browsers at near-native speed.

The key benefits of WebAssembly include:

• Performance - WebAssembly executes at near-native speed, much faster than JavaScript
• Portability - The same WebAssembly module can run across different browsers and platforms
• Security - WebAssembly executes in a safe, sandboxed environment inside the browser
• Compactness - The binary format of WebAssembly code is compact and fast to transmit
• Interoperability - WebAssembly integrates smoothly with JavaScript code and the web platform

WebAssembly modules can perform computationally intensive tasks like games, 3D rendering, video/audio editing, simulations, and machine learning right inside web browsers. This eliminates the need for external plugins or installations and enables a wide range of new web applications.

Major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge now ship with built-in support for WebAssembly. It is being adopted in web frameworks and libraries as a compilation target alongside JavaScript. WebAssembly has the potential to become a cross-browser way to deliver high performance web applications.

WebAssembly Features

Official Links