Building a better web with WebAssembly at the edge
summary
Argues for running WebAssembly at the edge because it gives WASI for standardized host calls, language portability via AssemblyScript and Rust, and capability‑based sandboxing with linear memory for multi‑tenant safety. Claims typical Wasm is about 30% slower than native but yields tiny binaries (an AssemblyScript hello world at ~55 bytes) and minimal cold starts — Fastly’s lucid runtime instantiates a Wasm hello world in 52 microseconds. Mentions beta support for AssemblyScript and experiments like compiling QuickJS to Wasm.
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chapters (13)
- 0:00Introduction and background
- 1:35Overview of WebAssembly
- 2:25WebAssembly fundamentals
- 4:06Languages and security
- 6:17The WebAssembly system interface
- 7:26Understanding the edge
- 9:36Challenges in edge computing
- 12:50Why Wasm fits the edge
- 15:14Edge use cases and examples
- 17:35Community and standardization
- 20:56Language ecosystems
- 23:14Community resources and projects
- 27:10Conclusion and Q&A
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