WebAssembly: Yes, but for What?

10 months ago

WebAssembly (Wasm) turns 10, finding niches but not yet filling its full potential.
Wasm's early successes include retargeting desktop apps like Photoshop to the web and components like SQLite.
Gaming industry adoption of Wasm has been limited, with Unreal Engine dropping its Wasm backend.
Wasm's limitations, like lack of garbage collection (GC), initially hindered its use for languages like Python and Java.
Recent WasmGC allows languages with GC to target the web more efficiently, with Google Sheets as a notable example.
Wasm is not limited to the web; it's used for ad-hoc composition (e.g., RLBox in Firefox), lightweight virtualization, and IoT firmware.
The Wasm Component Model aims to standardize system composition with rich types and isolation, targeting cloud and edge computing.
Wasm's fast cold-start times (milliseconds or less) make it ideal for edge computing and FaaS platforms.
Future potential uses for Wasm include kernel drivers, operating systems, and secure AI compute platforms.
Wasm excels where isolation is needed between different program parts, making it suitable for security-critical extensible systems.

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