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> Right now you can port large C code bases over to run in a browser with emscripten so that's nice. Maybe you'll write a web component using WASM at some point

> Right now you can port large C code bases over to run in a browser with emscripten so that's nice. Maybe you'll write a web component using WASM at some point. But doesn't this have the potential for a massive, paradigm shift in how we look at the "web"? Take just one example, a GC language like C# or Java being able to run under WASM (inside a web browser?). It could bypass HTML, CSS, and JS entirely and just run as if it were a desktop application. Doesn't this lead us down the rabbit hole back to Java applets, Flash plugins and other similar plugins, albeit more secure/sandboxed? If every website is free to render a button using any programming language it wants, there is no longer any standardization, accessibility features, a layout engine, etc. What is the point of a "web browser" at all, if all it does is host a WASM-based application? I think that's the part where my brain starts to give up.

EvanAnderson 4y ago
I continue to be surprised that nobody has started marketing a browser (complete with accessibility features, internationalization, etc) that’s built in WASM. I can imagine any number of media companies who would love to continue using their current web-dev pipeline but, by walling access to their servers off to this “trusted” WASM browser, could be reasonably assured that users aren’t using ad blockers, archive bots, etc. It’s the next logical extension of those ridiculous scripts that you used to see, popping up a “Access denied” message on a right-click because the website owner wanted to limit “view source”. The kind of numbskull who would do that would love a WASM-based browser.
deleted 4y ago
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eminence32 4y ago
> It could bypass HTML, CSS, and JS entirely and just run as if it were a desktop application. Not quite, because in order to display anything to the user, it still has to use HTML/CSS/JS
- krapp 4y ago
  >Not quite, because in order to display anything to the user, it still has to use HTML/CSS/JS Webassembly was designed to be usable outside of the browser, and multiple native runtimes already exist for it. It doesn't require the web stack, that just happens to be the most convenient way to use it at the moment.
- deleted 4y ago
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- traverseda 4y ago
  Or canvas elements.
  - EMM_386 4y ago
    My thought exactly, seeing how Flutter has an output for the web that renders to canvas, bypassing everything entirely. Then what do we have? A C# desktop application running under WASM inside a browser with a custom UI rendered to a <canvas> element? Is that where this is going?
    - Kuinox 4y ago
      For now C# has Blazor that run .NET in the browser with WASM, that do the same thing that any JS frontend framework do. https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/apps/aspnet/web-apps/blazor https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/apps/aspnet/web-apps/blaz...
traverseda 4y ago
Well yes, but it would probably be violating accessibility laws in the US if they did that, and if search engines can't read the text than that's probably going to be a problem. >What is the point of a "web browser" at all, if all it does is host a WASM-based application? It's to get around various walled gardens apparently.

EvanAnderson 4y ago

I continue to be surprised that nobody has started marketing a browser (complete with accessibility features, internationalization, etc) that’s built in WASM. I can imagine any number of media companies who would love to continue using their current web-dev pipeline but, by walling access to their servers off to this “trusted” WASM browser, could be reasonably assured that users aren’t using ad blockers, archive bots, etc. It’s the next logical extension of those ridiculous scripts that you used to see, popping up a “Access denied” message on a right-click because the website owner wanted to limit “view source”. The kind of numbskull who would do that would love a WASM-based browser.

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eminence32 4y ago

> It could bypass HTML, CSS, and JS entirely and just run as if it were a desktop application. Not quite, because in order to display anything to the user, it still has to use HTML/CSS/JS

krapp 4y ago
>Not quite, because in order to display anything to the user, it still has to use HTML/CSS/JS Webassembly was designed to be usable outside of the browser, and multiple native runtimes already exist for it. It doesn't require the web stack, that just happens to be the most convenient way to use it at the moment.
deleted 4y ago
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traverseda 4y ago
Or canvas elements.
- EMM_386 4y ago
  My thought exactly, seeing how Flutter has an output for the web that renders to canvas, bypassing everything entirely. Then what do we have? A C# desktop application running under WASM inside a browser with a custom UI rendered to a <canvas> element? Is that where this is going?
  - Kuinox 4y ago
    For now C# has Blazor that run .NET in the browser with WASM, that do the same thing that any JS frontend framework do. https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/apps/aspnet/web-apps/blazor https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/apps/aspnet/web-apps/blaz...

traverseda 4y ago

Well yes, but it would probably be violating accessibility laws in the US if they did that, and if search engines can't read the text than that's probably going to be a problem. >What is the point of a "web browser" at all, if all it does is host a WASM-based application? It's to get around various walled gardens apparently.