Activity Spotlight

WebAssembly for the backend

WebAssembly was made to open web browsers to more languages besides JavaScript. Its virtual machine and bytecode target allows safe re-use of third party code. Using WebAssembly outside the browser is a relatively new trend worth understanding. This talk dives into WebAssembly through a series of real-world integrations outside of the web browser. You’ll learn how key aspects like I/O work, including real-world examples in Go applications using the wazero runtime. You’ll learn how Application Binary Interfaces (ABIs) differ from Application Programming interfaces (APIs) and why this matters to application architecture such as side cars. Instead of “hello world”, you’ll learn WebAssembly through real software, like the RethinkRaw photo editor, the Dapr sidecar and the Trivy vulnerability scanner. Instead of only rainbows, you’ll learn problematic areas of WebAssembly, including programming limitations. The goal of this talk is to inform, not to promote. When we’re through, you’ll have a practical understanding of WebAssembly and how it applies to standalone applications and service infrastructure. You’ll have a good sense of how things fit together and what to watch out for.