What Is WebAssembly and Where React Fits
Understand WASM's purpose, performance characteristics, and how it integrates with JavaScript and React.
Defining WebAssembly
WebAssembly (WASM) is a binary instruction format designed to run in web browsers at near-native speed. Unlike JavaScript, which is a high-level interpreted language, WASM is a low-level bytecode that the browser's JavaScript engine compiles and executes with minimal overhead, achieving performance within 10-20% of native code.
WASM Is a Compilation Target
WebAssembly is not a programming language you write directly — it is a compilation target. Languages like Rust, C, C++, and Go can be compiled to WASM bytecode using their respective toolchains. You write in a systems language, compile to WASM, and ship the binary module to the browser.
All lessons in this course
- What Is WebAssembly and Where React Fits
- Loading WASM Modules in React
- Rust to WASM with wasm-pack and React
- WASM Use Cases: Image Processing and Computation