Why WebAssembly is the future of edge computing

#WebAssembly (abbreviated?#Wasm) is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine. Wasm is designed as a portable compilation target for #programming languages, enabling deployment on the #web for client and #server applications12. WebAssembly can run with near-native performance and provides languages such as C/C++, C#, and #Rust with a way to run on #web3. WebAssembly is also designed to run alongside #JavaScript, allowing both to work together3. WebAssembly is being developed as a web standard via the W3C WebAssembly Working Group and Community Group with active participation from all major browser vendors. It lets us run the #cloud-native back ends on operational edges, bringing business logic near users or data, even where #Kubernetes and #containers are not feasible.

The #cloud migration of the last decade was driven by containers, which helped many organizations shift their workloads. But the next decade will be marked by distributed operations, which pose new difficulties for organizations. They have to achieve performance, compliance, autonomy, privacy, cost, and security objectives while operating across data centers and the edge.

The WebAssembly (Wasm) Component Model could be the key to improving development methodologies for the edge. Developers will start to see Wasm component libraries as a huge collection of #Legos that they can use. Instead of moving our data to our compute, we are now moving our compute to our data.

What do we mean by ‘the edge’?

Edge computing has many meanings. It can be a data center close to a user, or a #CDN edge, or an #IoT device or sensor in a low-resource environment. For us, the edge is where the user interacts with a device. It could be a smartphone, a car, a train, a plane, or even a web #browser. The edge means having the power to put computational intelligence where and when it is needed.

Nearly 70% of enterprises are speeding up edge adoption to gain a competitive advantage or solve critical business problems, according to NTT’s 2023 Edge Report. The reasons are clear. The demand for real-time, engaging experiences on personal devices is matched by the need to put compute power directly into industrial processes and appliances. Speeding up edge adoption makes business sense. We improve performance, accuracy, and productivity by delivering mobile-first architectures and personalized user experiences. We also deliver world-class user experiences at the right place and time. New server-side standards, like WASI and the WebAssembly Component Model, help us deliver these outcomes in edge solutions faster, with more features, and at a lower cost.

A path to abstraction

We have achieved great progress in the last 20 years in making common complexities easier to handle in the development experience. By shifting these layers to standardized platforms, we have made the effort simpler, the time-to-market shorter, and the pace of innovation faster with each wave of innovation.

#VMs enabled the public cloud by separating operating systems from machines. Containers simplified the deployment and management of operating environments. #Kubernetes and its smaller variants managed microservices in large and small container clusters. But #Kubernetes has a limit where the operating cost is more than the value.

Wasm advantages at the edge

Wasm aims to simplify the management of application dependencies across clouds and edges. Wasm is tiny, secure, and fast. It can run everywhere, with or without #Kubernetes. It can scale higher and operate closer to users than containers.

The WebAssembly Component Model

Applications that operate across edges often run into challenges posed by the sheer diversity of devices encountered there. Consider streaming video to edge devices. There are thousands of unique operating systems, hardware, and version combinations on which to scale your application performantly. Teams today solve this problem by building different versions of their applications for each deployment domain — one for #Windows, one for #Linux, one for #Mac, and just for x86. Common components are sometimes portable across boundaries, but they are plagued by subtle differences and #vulnerabilities.

The WebAssembly Component Model lets us split our applications into contract-based, interchangeable components that platforms can load at runtime. Developers or platform engineers can choose any component that fits the contract. This allows easy migration of an #application across clouds, edges, services, or environments without changing any code. #Platforms like wasmCloud can load the latest versions of a component at runtime, saving maintenance costs. Different components can be connected depending on the context, conditions, privacy, security, or other factors — all without modifying the original application. #Developers can focus on features, not boilerplate. #Enterprises can save across many applications. The WebAssembly Component Model boosts edge efforts as applications become smaller, more portable, and more secure. Developers can mix and match components in different languages for different use cases.

Wasm at the consumer edge

These new standards are changing how we build, deploy, operate, and maintain applications. For example, Amazon Prime Video has used WebAssembly for 12 months to improve the update process for more than 8,000 devices such as TVs, consoles, and #streaming sticks. Instead of separate native releases for each device, which would affect performance, the company has replaced JavaScript with Wasm in some parts of the Prime Video app. With Wasm, the team improved frame times, memory utilization, stability, and CPU consumption.

Wasm at the development edge

WebAssembly is already widely adopted from public clouds to end user edges. Early adopters like #Amazon, #Disney, #BMW, #Shopify, and #Adobe show its power and flexibility. For #developers, #edge computing means bringing business logic closer to users or data, reducing network latency. Until now, this was hard, costly, or impossible for some edge devices. With Wasm, cloud-native #backends can run anywhere, even in a web browser tab. It doesn’t matter which language we use, Wasm lets us build local-first and edge-native applications. WebAssembly will boost innovation in edge computing like cloud computing did for application development.