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

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First published: September 2018

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ISBN 978-1-78899-737-9

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Mike Rourke has been writing code for over a decade. He got his start creating Microsoft Access applications using VBA and decided he wanted to work with JavaScript full-time after building a Mozilla Firefox extension. He has a B.S. in mechanical engineering technology and worked primarily in product design/manufacturing engineering roles before starting a career as a software engineer in 2017. Currently, he works for a Chicago-based consulting company and is focused primarily on frontend JavaScript development. When's he not writing code, he's out in the woods camping with his wolf brothers.

Dan Ruta is a fresh graduate, about to start an MSc in computer vision. He got started with WebAssembly by implementing a small web-based deep learning library, and messing around with WebAssembly and GPGPU.

Other publications he has worked on include occasional technical blogs on Medium, and a team research paper combining AI, AR, and WebGL shaders to assist the visually impaired, which he presented at a conference.

His projects can be followed on GitHub and Medium (DanRuta), or on his website and tweets (Dan_Ruta).

Maxim Shaydo aka Moreas MaxGraey is an independent developer, consultant, system architect from Ukraine, he has worked with at LaSoft as a CTO and is a big fan of open source community.

He continues to be an enduring contributor for open source projects dedicated to WebAssembly, such as AssemblyScript language that has been gaining a lot of attention lately. He happens to be very interested in development of WebGL, WebVR technologies, and Flow Based Programming as well.

This project could not have been completed without being reviewed by Alon Zakai (kripken) known for his work on emscripten and binaryen. Special thanks to Daniel Wirtz (dcodeIO) who is the main contributor of AssemplyScript and an incredibly productive mate. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my parents Mr. and Mrs Shaydo, without them none of this would indeed be possible.

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This book introduces readers to WebAssembly, a new and exciting technology capable of executing languages other than JavaScript in the browser. The book describes how to build a C/JavaScript application from scratch that uses WebAssembly and the process for porting an existing C++ code base to run in the browser with the help of Emscripten.

WebAssembly represents an important shift for the web platform. As a compilation target for languages such as C, C++, and Rust, it provides the ability to build a new class of application. WebAssembly is supported by all of the major browser vendors and represents a collaborative effort.

In this book, we'll describe the elements that make up WebAssembly, as well as its origins. We'll walk through the process of installing the required tools, setting up a development environment, and interacting with WebAssembly. We'll work through simple examples and progress through increasingly advanced use cases. By the end of this book, you'll be well-equipped to use WebAssembly in your C, C++, or JavaScript project.

If you are a C/C++ programmer who wishes to build applications for the web, or a web developer who wishes to improve the performance of their JavaScript applications, then this book is for you. The book is intended for developers familiar with JavaScript who wouldn't mind learning some C and C++ (and vice versa). This book accommodates for C/C++ programmers and JavaScript programmers alike by providing two example applications.