![]() ![]() JavaScript allows developers to make dynamic web pages which can interact with users. In the past, projects developed using languages like C or engines like Unreal or Unity were run on web browsers by compiling these projects to JavaScript or more specifically asm.js, a subset of JavaScript. This means that the compiler converted the source code of the project into JavaScript code. However, we now have a new competitor on the block. Web Assembly (also known as wasm or WA) is a new format for the executable code in web browsers that is gaining popularity. Backed and developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which has engineers from giants like Mozilla, Google, Microsoft and Apple as its members, it may change the web as we know it. WebAssembly is a format for binary instructions that can be executed in a stack-based virtual machine in the web browser. It is what the developers call an “assembly-like text format”. Assembly languages or machine codes are formats for a set of instructions that can be understood by the machine. Unlike high-level languages like C or C++ which can be read and comprehended by humans, WebAssembly is designed to be a compilation target for such high-level languages. ![]() Other than opening doors for web development in a plethora of languages, it is envisioned that it will complement JavaScript.ĭemonstration of compilation to WebAssembly This means that a developer may develop his project which he wants to deploy on the web using a language best suited for the project and then convert the source code into executable code in the WebAssembly format which can then be run in a web browser. WebAssembly was first demonstrated using Angry Bots, a game developed using the Unity engine. Why do we need a format for executable code which is less legible to humans? However, Unity much like Unreal already supported compilation to asm.js which allowed execution on browsers. The answer is that being an assembly level language it is faster and more efficient in terms of performance. High-level languages have to go through a number of interpreters, libraries and other software which make the code understandable to the machine.
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