The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

Wasmer is taking WebAssembly beyond the browser (Interview)

Apr 12, 2019

Syrus Akbary, a key figure in the WebAssembly community and co-founder of Wasmer, discusses the future of WebAssembly beyond just the browser. He explores how Wasmer enables universal binaries compatible with languages like Rust and Go. The conversation highlights the importance of Application Binary Interfaces (ABI) for seamless execution across platforms. Akbary also envisions decentralized computing through WebAssembly in cloud gaming and emphasizes the potential for open source projects to attract investment, shaping the development landscape.

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INSIGHT

WebAssembly's Potential

WebAssembly is gaining traction for universal binaries, running seamlessly across platforms and architectures.
This approach mirrors Java's write-once-run-anywhere concept but with broader language compatibility.

INSIGHT

Universal Binaries with WebAssembly

WebAssembly enables universal binaries, eliminating platform-specific compilation needs.
An Nginx.wasm binary could function seamlessly across Linux, Windows, macOS, and potentially even mobile devices.

INSIGHT

WebAssembly's Origins and Strengths

WebAssembly's strength lies in industry-wide agreement and its origin in performant browser code execution.
It evolved from asm.js to efficiently execute bytecode on the user side.

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We’re talking with Syrus Akbary about WebAssembly and Wasmer — a standalone just in time WebAssembly runtime aiming to be fully compatible with Emscripten, Rust, and Go. We talked about taking WebAssembly beyond the browser, universal binaries, what’s an ABI?, running WebAssembly from any language, and what a world might look like with platform independent universal binaries powered by WebAssembly.

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Featuring:

Syrus Akbary – Website, GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X

Show Notes:

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!