# WebAssembly, the end of Javascript era? [By\\ \\ Leo Daidone](/content/author/leo/index.html) 1. [Home](/content/site-root.html) 2. [Engineering Blog](/content/blog/index.html) 3. WebAssembly, the end of Javascript era? I would say [WebAssembly](https://webassembly.org/) is a complement to JavaScript.  It’s not only to power up JavaScript but also allows to use other languages, traditionally for the backend stuff, in the front-end. > WebAssembly (abbreviated _Wasm_) is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine. Wasm is designed as a portable target for compilation of high-level languages like C/C++/Rust, enabling deployment on the web for client and server applications. ## Back in time Let’s recall the history of web development to better understand why we get here. In autumn of year 1991,  CERN physicist Berners-Lee wrote a memo proposing an Internet-based hypertext system, the HTML… okay maybe too far in the past. On December, 1995, Javascript was born at [Netscape Communications](https://isp.netscape.com/). Those days, cool developers used to program fancy apps with Java Applets, that requires users to have installed _**Java Web Start**_ plugin. Javascript used to be underestimated since it was a slow scripting language, but it had a trick under its sleeves: direct access to the DOM. Javascript was still slow causing performance issues on sites with heavy logic in the client, then around 2008 the Just In-time Compiler _(JIT)_ arrived to convert Javascript as a mainstream language. But the performance was still a bottle neck. ## What is WebAssembly? WebAssembly is a small binary format that promises near-native performance for web applications. It can be defined as _Abstract Syntax Tree (AST)_, that allows smaller app bundles. But, why is it better? Beyond of performance, since it’s closer to machine code, it allows exciting new features like threads, SIMD _(Single Instruction, Multiple Data)_, parallel processing pipelines, just to mention few. WebAssembly fills the gaps created by slow performance of current web-client development. ## Why should I use it? The first thing that comes to my mind is that you can pick a language different from JavaScript for your interactive UI. Currently supported languages: - Go - Rust - C/C++ - C#/.Net - Java - Python - Elixir - [and more…](https://github.com/appcypher/awesome-wasm-langs#contents) So, the same team could work on both UI and backend development using the same language they use on the back-end. Because of the new feature, it potentially offers more developer friendly coding of games, Virtual Reality (VR) apps  and  Augmented Reality (AR) apps. ## Conclusion It’s the dawn of a bright and new web development era, but it’s still too early to adopt in my opinion. Said that I encourage all of you that want to experiment and contribute to the growth of this technology. The big players  – _Google, Apple, Microsoft and Firefox_ – are already including the support for WebAssembly. So _it’s time to boldly go where no man has gone before…_ Hope you enjoy reading! ### Next Post #### Web Applications and ADA [Read More](/content/2019/02/web-applications-and-ada/index.html) **Tags:** [javascript](/content/post/tag/javascript/index.html), [trending](/content/post/tag/trending/index.html), [webassembly](/content/post/tag/webassembly/index.html) **Categories:** [JavaScript](/content/post/category/javascript/index.html), [Programming](/content/post/category/programming/index.html) ### Comments Disqus Recommendations We were unable to load Disqus Recommendations. 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