7 Lin Clark on WebAssembly

Typically, we use an array of code to create a website. HTML is used for its structure, CSS for styling and Javascript for the website’s behavior. But it seems that there are better options for coding. On “Lin Clark on WebAssembly” by Software Engineering Radio with guest Lin Clark, she explains how WebAssembly gives the programmer more control over the code it will run, because Javascript was not made to be fast (it instead was made to be easy). But, with WebAssembly the code runs more consistently, and Clark gives us an example. She partnered with gaming studios like unreal engine and saw that WebAssembly ran smoother and eliminated the threat of frame drops which were common with Javascript.

WebAssembly then is a compiler that works in tandem with C, C++, or Rust to produce a smoother runtime code in the Javascript VM (virtual machine). It works with modules that provide functions. Although natively, WebAssembly only understands integers and floats. But, its compatibility with all kinds of software makes it worth it. That is because it removes a lot of the work needed to translate the code to work on each kind of operating system. With WebAssembly, the code is compiled and translated to the correct type of code for each instance.

Another interesting feature WebAssembly has is as the binary code downloads in chunks through the web, you can decode (no parsing needed) and compile it (Clark calls it ‘streaming compilation). And with the issue of security, every module is accessing its own memory object and thus cannot be accessed by third parties. If there is an attempt to do so, the module returns an error.

So, it appears that WebAssembly could become an important tool in the next few years for web developers to optimize their work. Which means, less time translating and more time creating and improving performance.