Ruby Adds Support for WebAssembly: What Does This Mean for Ruby Developers?

Ruby's 3.2 release introduces support for WebAssembly (Wasm), expanding its potential use beyond traditional backend applications. Wasm is a binary instruction format designed to run applications at near-native speeds on any modern browser, offering portability and security through a sandboxed environment. This update allows Ruby code to be executed directly in browsers, eliminating the need for a backend and making it possible to deploy Ruby applications across various platforms, including embedded devices and serverless functions. While the Wasm ecosystem is rapidly evolving, current limitations such as the lack of thread support and network access, as well as challenges with memory management, mean that Ruby's use with Wasm is still in its infancy. Despite these challenges, the integration of Ruby with WebAssembly presents exciting opportunities for developers to explore new domains like edge computing and serverless architectures, marking a significant step forward in making Ruby a more versatile language.