5 ms·

> I honestly think that one of the key ingredients to the success of the web is that just about any web page you can see, just about anyone with modest knowledg

by luhn 11y ago

> I honestly think that one of the key ingredients to the success of the web is that just about any web page you can see, just about anyone with modest knowledge can trivially work out how it was done. Not really. Almost all websites obfuscate/minify their Javascript now, making manually interpreting the code much less than "trivial." I think WebAssembly will be no worse to figure out than obfuscated Javascript.

zmmmmm 11y ago
I think it will be much worse. Minified Javascript is pretty easy to turn back into something moderately understandable just by "prettifying" it. I do this all the time. It works pretty well because it started as Javascript, so turning it back into Javascript has a relatively clean mapping. WebAssembly will have started as some other language or even as no language at all - there may be no mapping back to anything Javascript could represent. It will be much closer to disassembly of machine code, or Java byte code, which is possible but challenging enough that most ordinary developers never do it.
- sciurus 11y ago
  True, but this is already happening with asm.js. Is webassembly any more objectionable than that? Instead of causing existing applications to further obfuscate their code, it seems to be bringing new types of applications to the browser.
- netheril96 11y ago
  I think WebAssembly will be much closer to Java byte code than actual machine assembly. And Java byte code can be easily decompiled into readable Java code (at least as readable as minified Javascript).
- dockimbel 11y ago
  A polyfill to Javascript is already planned. https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/Polyfill.md https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/Polyfill.m...
- frame_perfect 11y ago
  That's exactly why we have the free software movement.
- devsquid 11y ago
  its built into the spec of WASM for it to be able to be "prettified" as well. I imagine it'd do about as good of a job as current prettifying of minified JS. "The WebAssembly text format, which is designed to be read and written when using tools (e.g., assemblers, debuggers, profilers), is specified as a textual projection of a module's AST." This is apart of the MVP even. I think the authors of WASM actually agree with your opinions here and are working to a system that satisfies that concern. BTW taken from, https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/MVP.md https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/MVP.md
  - zmmmmm 11y ago
    > I think the authors of WASM actually agree with your opinions here and are working to a system that satisfies that concern That's very reassuring - I hope it works out that way.

by luhn 11y ago

zmmmmm 11y ago

I think it will be much worse. Minified Javascript is pretty easy to turn back into something moderately understandable just by "prettifying" it. I do this all the time. It works pretty well because it started as Javascript, so turning it back into Javascript has a relatively clean mapping. WebAssembly will have started as some other language or even as no language at all - there may be no mapping back to anything Javascript could represent. It will be much closer to disassembly of machine code, or Java byte code, which is possible but challenging enough that most ordinary developers never do it.

sciurus 11y ago
True, but this is already happening with asm.js. Is webassembly any more objectionable than that? Instead of causing existing applications to further obfuscate their code, it seems to be bringing new types of applications to the browser.
netheril96 11y ago
I think WebAssembly will be much closer to Java byte code than actual machine assembly. And Java byte code can be easily decompiled into readable Java code (at least as readable as minified Javascript).
dockimbel 11y ago
A polyfill to Javascript is already planned. https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/Polyfill.md https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/Polyfill.m...
frame_perfect 11y ago
That's exactly why we have the free software movement.
devsquid 11y ago
its built into the spec of WASM for it to be able to be "prettified" as well. I imagine it'd do about as good of a job as current prettifying of minified JS. "The WebAssembly text format, which is designed to be read and written when using tools (e.g., assemblers, debuggers, profilers), is specified as a textual projection of a module's AST." This is apart of the MVP even. I think the authors of WASM actually agree with your opinions here and are working to a system that satisfies that concern. BTW taken from, https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/MVP.md https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/MVP.md
- zmmmmm 11y ago
  > I think the authors of WASM actually agree with your opinions here and are working to a system that satisfies that concern That's very reassuring - I hope it works out that way.