Fallthrough Blown Glass Half-Full of WebAssembly & SQLite
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May 19, 2025 
Danielle Lancashire, a Principal Engineer at Fermyon, shares her diverse expertise, from simplifying distributed systems to blowing glass. She discusses the evolution of WebAssembly and its innovative applications, emphasizing experimentation's role in tech. The conversation also covers effective problem-solving strategies and the importance of addressing customer needs. Danielle provides insights on work-life balance, highlighting the therapeutic benefits of engaging in creative hobbies and navigating the challenges of modern bureaucracy.
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WebAssembly's Unique Security Model
- WebAssembly offers a fast, secure, and portable runtime originally designed for browsers but now expanding to serverless and distributed systems.
- Its capability-based security model (WASI) allows precise control over program permissions, enhancing multi-tenant compute platforms.
Using SQLite in Global WebAssembly
- Danielle's team runs WebAssembly applications globally on Akamai's network using SQLite for distributed state storage, valuing simplicity and durability.
- This approach showed SQLite can handle distributed, resilient workloads without complex databases or dedicated DBAs.
Break Problems Into Manageable Pieces
- Solve big problems by breaking them down logically into smaller independent components or "lego pieces".
- Tackle each piece separately, loop back, and fit them together like a jigsaw for manageable progress.