Learn WebAssembly

The first definitive guide on WebAssembly to help you break through the barriers of web development and build an entirely new class of performant applications

Key Features

• Generate WebAssembly modules from C and C++ using Emscripten and interact with these modules in the browser
• Learn how to use WebAssembly outside of the browser and load modules using Node.js
• Build a high performance application using C and WebAssembly

Book Description

WebAssembly is a brand new technology that represents a paradigm shift in web development. This book will teach you how to leverage this technology to write high performance applications that run in the browser. You'll be introduced to powerful WebAssembly concepts that will help you write lean and powerful web applications with native performance. Learn WebAssembly begins by getting you acquainted with the evolution of web programming, the state of things today, and what can be done with the advent and release of WebAssembly. You'll then take a look at the journey from JavaScript to asm.js to WebAssembly. As you progress, you'll analyze the anatomy of a WebAssembly module and the relationship between binary and text formats, along with the corresponding JavaScript API. Further on, you'll implement all the techniques you've learned to build a high performance application using C and WebAssembly, and then port an existing game written in C++ to WebAssembly using Emscripten.

By the end of this book, you will be well-equipped to create high performance applications and games for the Web using WebAssembly.

What you will learn

• Understand how WebAssembly and its associated elements (text format, module, and the JavaScript API) came to be
• Create, load, and debug a WebAssembly module (editor and compiler/toolchain)
• Build a high performance application using C and WebAssembly
• Extend WebAssembly's feature set using Emscripten by porting a game written in C++
• Explore the upcoming features of WebAssembly, Node.js integration, and alternative compilation methods
• Port an existing C++ game to WebAssembly using Emscripten

Who this book is for

If you are a web developer or C/C++ programmer keen to leverage the powerful WebAssembly to build high performance web applications, this book is for you.

Table of Contents

1. What is WebAssembly?
2. Elements ofWebAssembly – Wat, Wasm, and the JavaScript API
3. Development Workflow, Tooling, and Configuration
4. Installing the Required Dependencies
5. Creating and Loading aWebAssembly Module
6. Interacting with JavaScript and Debugging
7. Creating an Application from Scratch
8. Porting a Game with Emscripten
9. Integrating with Node.js
10. Advanced Tools and Upcoming Features