Introduction to WebAssembly-JavaScript API

WebAssembly (often abbreviated as "Wasm") is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine. It is designed as a low-level bytecode that can be run on a variety of platforms including web browsers, servers, and standalone virtual machines.

WebAssembly-JavaScript API allows interaction between JavaScript and WebAssembly modules. This API provides several JavaScript methods to load, compile, and instantiate WebAssembly modules.

Loading WebAssembly modules

WebAssembly modules can be loaded in a browser environment using a URL representing the path to the .wasm file. The fetch API can be used to get the module asynchronously. The WebAssembly.instantiateStreaming() method can then be used to compile and instantiate the module.

fetch('example.wasm')
  .then(response => response.arrayBuffer())
  .then(bytes => WebAssembly.instantiate(bytes))
  .then(obj => {
    // Do something with the WebAssembly module
  });

Compiling WebAssembly modules

The WebAssembly.compile() method can be used to compile a given module manually.

fetch('example.wasm')
  .then(response => response.arrayBuffer())
  .then(bytes => WebAssembly.compile(bytes))
  .then(module => {
    // Do something with the compiled WebAssembly module
  });

Instantiating WebAssembly modules

Instantiating a WebAssembly module creates a new instance of the module that can be used to call exported functions from the module.

fetch('example.wasm')
  .then(response => response.arrayBuffer())
  .then(bytes => WebAssembly.instantiate(bytes))
  .then(obj => {
    const instance = obj.instance;
    // Call exported function from the WebAssembly module
    const result = instance.exports.myFunction(...args);
  });

Conclusion

WebAssembly-JavaScript API provides a way to integrate WebAssembly modules with JavaScript in a browser environment. With this API, developers can load, compile, and instantiate WebAssembly modules to perform computationally intensive tasks in a browser with high performance.