WASM Garbage Collection and Reference Types
Explore the WasmGC and reference-types proposals that let managed languages target WebAssembly without bundling their own heap.
Why WASM Needed GC
Early WASM had only linear memory, forcing managed languages (Java, Kotlin, C#, Dart) to ship their own garbage collector compiled to WASM — bloating binaries.
The Reference Types Proposal
Reference types add opaque references like externref and funcref that the engine manages, instead of stuffing everything into linear memory.
All lessons in this course
- WASM Component Model & Future APIs
- Advanced WASM Tooling & Ecosystem
- Building a Complete WASM Application
- WASM Garbage Collection and Reference Types