Company
Date Published
Author
Coralogix Team
Word count
1267
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Web Assembly (WASM) is a low-level, assembly-like language running in modern web browsers with near-native performance, providing a compilation target for languages such as C/C++, C#, and Rust. It is designed to operate alongside JavaScript rather than replace it, enhancing performance by skipping steps like parsing and type-checking, which JavaScript requires due to its dynamic nature. WASM has found applications in areas like gaming and cryptocurrency mining due to its speed, though it has also improved performance for web-based tools like Figma and AutoCAD. Despite its capabilities, WASM is most beneficial for heavy computation tasks, while JavaScript continues to dominate everyday browser tasks, with WASM complementing rather than supplanting it.