WASMs

WebAssembly, often abbreviated as Wasm, is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine. It is designed as a portable compilation target for programming languages, enabling deployment on the web for client and server applications. Wasm is not intended to be written directly by humans but is typically compiled from source code written in languages like C, C++, Rust, and others.

The primary goal of WebAssembly is to provide a way to run code written in languages other than JavaScript at near-native speeds in web browsers. This opens up possibilities for computationally intensive applications such as games, video editing software, and complex simulations to be developed for the web. It achieves high performance through its low-level, compact binary format, which is faster to parse and execute than JavaScript.

WebAssembly modules can interact with JavaScript, allowing developers to leverage existing web APIs and libraries. This interoperability means that Wasm code can be called from JavaScript, and JavaScript code can be called from Wasm. Beyond the browser, WebAssembly is also finding use in server-side environments, edge computing, and even as a plugin system for various applications, due to its security model and portability. It operates within a sandboxed environment, ensuring that code execution is isolated and does not have direct access to the host system's resources without explicit permission.