Learn WebAssembly

Learn WebAssembly: Build web applications with native performance using Wasm and C/C++

In the first definitive guide on WebAssembly, you’ll learn how you can wield this new technology to break through the current 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 and port an existing C++ game to WebAssembly using Emscripten

Book Description

WebAssembly is a brand-new technology that represents a paradigm shift in web development. This book aims to teaches programmers how to leverage this technology to write high- performance applications that run in the browser.

This book will introduces you to the powerful WebAssembly concepts of WebAssembly that willto help you write lean and powerful web applications with native performance.

You will start with the evolution of web programming, the state of things today, and what can be done with the advent and release of WebAssembly. We take a look at the journey from JavaScript to asm.js to WebAssembly. We then move on to analyzinge the anatomy of a WebAssembly module and the relationship between the binary and text formats, along with the corresponding JavaScript API.

Further on, weyou’ll implement all the techniques you’ve learned by to building 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 would will be well-equipped to create high-performance applications and games for the web using WebAssembly.

What you will learn

• Learn how WebAssembly came to be and its associated elements (text format, module, and JavaScript API)
• 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 upcoming features of WebAssembly, Node.js integration, and alternative compilation methods

Who this book is for

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

Table of Contents

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