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One awesome thing about WebAssembly is that it makes a lot of sense as an extension language. Instead of building around the JVM or .NET to get access to langua

One awesome thing about WebAssembly is that it makes a lot of sense as an extension language. Instead of building around the JVM or .NET to get access to languages on those platforms and instead of standardizing on one embedded language (Lua, Python or JavaScript), I can use anything that supports WebAssembly and double dip with that same ecosystem working in the browser. And that list of supported languages will only continue to grow since we finally have an alternative to compiling to JavaScript. Now, I don't think it'll "take over" the way C has, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see it edging out other VMs in many contexts, like the Lua or Python VMs, which may end up porting to WebAssembly instead of trying to justify another dependency for your app. I hope we'll finally get to the point where I can choose what language to use for a specific task based on the merits of the language instead of making the larger argument that it's worth getting it to work in our existing app.

robotblake 8y ago
I work with some people who are working on Iodide [1] which is a Jupyter style notebook thing that runs entirely in the browser, they've already ported Python to WebAssembly [2][3] so you can use it as a language. [1] https://iodide.io/ https://iodide.io/ [2] https://github.com/iodide-project/pyodide https://github.com/iodide-project/pyodide [3] https://iodide.io/iodide-examples/python.html https://iodide.io/iodide-examples/python.html
- beatgammit 8y ago
  Nice. I've been watching efforts to port Lua to WebAssembly (the official VM looks simple enough, but luajit won't be easy) because I want to have an app that shares code with the browser, and it would be awesome to play with WebAssembly as the plugin system of choice on the backend. I'm also super excited for nebulet[1], which is a micro-kernel experiment using WebAssembly in Ring 0, which is pretty neat. I'm really excited to see where WebAssembly can go. I know many of these projects will peter out, but it's exciting nonetheless. [1] https://github.com/nebulet/nebulet https://github.com/nebulet/nebulet
  - robotblake 8y ago
    > I'm really excited to see where WebAssembly can go. I know many of these projects will peter out, but it's exciting nonetheless. Absolutely. On the Lua front someone made a PoC to add Lua as a language for Iodide [1] using Fengari [2] which (while I haven't used it yet) definitely looks interesting. Hadn't heard of Nebulet before but will definitely be following it now. Cheers! [1] https://groups.google.com/d/msg/iodide-dev/ahc4fg8_JLg/llkHS5ekBAAJ https://groups.google.com/d/msg/iodide-dev/ahc4fg8_JLg/llkHS... [2] https://fengari.io/ https://fengari.io/

robotblake 8y ago

I work with some people who are working on Iodide [1] which is a Jupyter style notebook thing that runs entirely in the browser, they've already ported Python to WebAssembly [2][3] so you can use it as a language. [1] https://iodide.io/ https://iodide.io/ [2] https://github.com/iodide-project/pyodide https://github.com/iodide-project/pyodide [3] https://iodide.io/iodide-examples/python.html https://iodide.io/iodide-examples/python.html

beatgammit 8y ago
Nice. I've been watching efforts to port Lua to WebAssembly (the official VM looks simple enough, but luajit won't be easy) because I want to have an app that shares code with the browser, and it would be awesome to play with WebAssembly as the plugin system of choice on the backend. I'm also super excited for nebulet[1], which is a micro-kernel experiment using WebAssembly in Ring 0, which is pretty neat. I'm really excited to see where WebAssembly can go. I know many of these projects will peter out, but it's exciting nonetheless. [1] https://github.com/nebulet/nebulet https://github.com/nebulet/nebulet
- robotblake 8y ago
  > I'm really excited to see where WebAssembly can go. I know many of these projects will peter out, but it's exciting nonetheless. Absolutely. On the Lua front someone made a PoC to add Lua as a language for Iodide [1] using Fengari [2] which (while I haven't used it yet) definitely looks interesting. Hadn't heard of Nebulet before but will definitely be following it now. Cheers! [1] https://groups.google.com/d/msg/iodide-dev/ahc4fg8_JLg/llkHS5ekBAAJ https://groups.google.com/d/msg/iodide-dev/ahc4fg8_JLg/llkHS... [2] https://fengari.io/ https://fengari.io/