Best of WebAssembly — 2025

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   iO tech_hub·1y

   What is WebLLM

   WebLLM, developed by the MLC-AI team, allows large language models (LLMs) to run fully within a web browser using modern web technologies like WebAssembly and WebGPU. This enables models to be more accessible client-side, providing privacy and offline support. While cloud-based LLMs are faster and require powerful servers, WebLLM offers cross-platform portability and easier installation. Implementation can be done using the WebLLM npm package, which includes support for web workers to enhance application performance.

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   Hacker News·1y

   We Replaced Our React Frontend with Go and WebAssembly

   Dagger Cloud v3 features a new UI built with Go and WebAssembly, replacing the previous React-based frontend. The decision aimed to unify the codebases of the terminal UI and web UI, enhancing performance and reducing duplication. Despite challenges like the Go + WebAssembly combination's maturity and memory limitations, the team achieved a smoother, more consistent user experience. Key optimizations included reducing memory usage and ensuring better performance for large data sets. This approach is particularly beneficial for teams with a strong Go background and complex UIs.

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   Hacker News·40w

   epanet-js

   epanet-js is a new web application that brings EPANET hydraulic simulation to modern browsers using WebAssembly, built by experts from Iterating using open source code from the defunct Placemark mapping tool. The browser-based tool offers a significant improvement over expensive legacy Windows software that costs $16,000 annually, demonstrating how open source licensing can enable new businesses to create better solutions in specialized markets like water utility system planning.

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   Community Picks·51w

   VERT-sh/VERT: The next-generation file converter. Open source, fully local* and free forever.

   VERT is an open-source, next-generation file conversion utility that runs locally on your device using WebAssembly. It supports multiple file formats without size limits and has a user-friendly interface built with Svelte. The project can be run locally or via Docker, and there are instructions for both methods available. The tool ensures privacy by allowing self-hosting for local functionality, although non-local video conversion is also available. The code is licensed under the AGPL-3.0 License.

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   Hacker News·1y

   WASM will replace containers

   WebAssembly (WASM) is poised to replace containers like Docker by offering a true write-once-run-anywhere experience. Though currently limited by the lack of system interfaces like file access and networking, future integrations are expected. WASM offers the combined benefits of microservices and monoliths, particularly in serverless platforms such as Cloudflare Workers. Its adoption is growing, and developers are encouraged to become familiar with compiled languages like Go or Rust to prepare for its future dominance.

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   LogRocket·1y

   Building progressive web apps using Rust

   Learn how to build a progressive web app (PWA) using Rust, WebAssembly (Wasm), SurrealDB, and Nostr. This comprehensive guide covers the implementation of storage, networking, and security layers within a rich PWA, highlighting the benefits of using Rust and Wasm for performance, safety, and robustness. The tutorial walks through creating a simple app that supports offline functionality, local encryption, and message networking. The setup includes initial project configuration, database connections, key management, message encryption and decryption, Nostr networking, and a vanilla JavaScript frontend for interaction.

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   Fermyon·33w

   Announcing Spin 3.4

   Spin 3.4 introduces HTTP/2 support for outgoing requests, enabling seamless integration with gRPC-based backends and improving performance through multiplexed connections. The release adds PostgreSQL connection pooling for better database performance and expands supported data types including UUID, JSONB, and array types. Additionally, Spin templates now include schema directives in spin.toml files for automatic validation and code completion in editors.

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   Zed·26w

   Windows When? Windows Now — Zed's Blog

   Zed code editor launches stable Windows support with native DirectX 11 rendering and DirectWrite text integration. The release includes full WSL and SSH remoting capabilities, allowing developers to edit files on Linux systems directly from Windows. All Zed extensions work without modification through WebAssembly Components and WASI sandboxing. AI features including edit predictions and ACP-powered agents are fully supported on Windows. The team maintains dedicated Windows engineers and will ship weekly updates matching their Mac and Linux release cadence.

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   LogRocket·28w

   We Got Wasm 3.0 Before GTA 6: Meet The Web’s New Engine

   WebAssembly 3.0 introduces significant improvements including a garbage collector, exception handling capabilities, and Memory64 support. These features position WebAssembly as a more mature and capable platform for web development, enabling better performance and broader language support in browser environments.

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    Community Picks·1y

    From Rust to TypeScript: A New Chapter for Prisma ORM

    Prisma ORM is migrating its core query engine from Rust to TypeScript to simplify contributions, reduce deployment complexity, and enhance compatibility with modern JavaScript environments. This transition involves moving query execution to TypeScript and shifting some components to WebAssembly, aiming to streamline architecture and maintain performance while improving developer experience.

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    Deno·18w

    Deno 2.6: dx is the new npx

    Deno 2.6 introduces dx, a new command for running package binaries similar to npx. The release adds granular permission controls with --ignore-read and --ignore-env flags, integrates tsgo for faster type checking, and supports source phase imports for WebAssembly. New features include deno audit for security vulnerability scanning, --require flag for CommonJS preloading, and improved dependency management with deno approve-scripts. The release enhances Node.js compatibility with @types/node included by default, numerous API fixes across crypto, fs, process, and sqlite modules, and better bundler support for different platforms. Additional improvements include transferable web streams, native source map support, and V8 14.2 upgrade.

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    InfoWorld·1y

    What you need to know about Go, Rust, and Zig

    Go, Rust, and Zig are emerging programming languages each with distinct advantages. Go, known for its simplicity and minimal syntax, excels in network services and standalone applications. Rust prioritizes memory safety and speed, becoming popular in server-side apps and replacing C/C++ in certain scenarios. Zig, a modern alternative to C, focuses on low-level programming with better memory safety features and easier integration with C projects.

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    Lobsters·49w

    Wasm 2.0 Completed

    Wasm 2.0 has officially completed the W3C process, introducing several new features like vector instructions for SIMD functionality, bulk memory operations, multi-value results, and reference types. The update aims to enhance performance for compute-intensive applications while remaining backwards-compatible with version 1.0. The release also transitions to an evergreen model, where the Candidate Recommendation is the current standard.

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    Fermyon·42w

    Why We Chose Rust For Spin

    Fermyon explains their decision to build Spin, an open-source serverless WebAssembly framework, using Rust. The choice was driven by Rust's synergy with the wasmtime runtime, its powerful tooling ecosystem including clap and cargo workspaces, and its ability to support extensible architecture through plugins, templates, and factors. The article highlights how Rust's type system, memory safety, and developer toolchain enabled them to create a scalable, maintainable codebase while delivering an excellent developer experience.

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    Rust·22w

    Announcing Rust 1.91.1

    Rust 1.91.1 is a patch release fixing two critical regressions from version 1.91.0. The first addresses linker failures and runtime errors in WebAssembly builds caused by incorrect handling of the wasm_import_module attribute when importing symbols from multiple Wasm modules. The second fixes Cargo's target directory locking on illumos systems, which was inadvertently disabled due to an oversight in the File::lock standard library implementation.

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    fasterthanli.me·17w

    My gift to the rustdoc team

    Arborium is a new open-source project that brings tree-sitter-based syntax highlighting to Rust documentation. It bundles 96 language grammars into Rust crates that compile to both native and WebAssembly targets. The project offers three integration approaches: a JavaScript/WASM script for immediate use on docs.rs, a rustdoc PR to add native highlighting support, and a post-processor that adds highlighting to existing HTML documentation with minimal size overhead. The solution addresses long-standing limitations in docs.rs by providing accurate, comprehensive syntax highlighting without requiring full documentation rebuilds.

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    htmx·1y

    > htmx ~ A Real World wasm to htmx Port

    The author shares their experience of rewriting Sidekick, a customer service software, from a complex Rust and WASM-based architecture to a simpler HTMX-based system. This change significantly improved load times and made it easier to add new features, which is crucial for their startup. The rewrite process took about three weeks and led to a more maintainable and efficient codebase.

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    Hacker News·45w

    10 years of betting on Rust

    A founder reflects on 10 years of using Rust in production, from the painful early days of version compatibility issues and compile time problems to today's mature ecosystem. Despite initial challenges with the borrow checker and tooling, Rust has evolved into a reliable choice for systems programming with exceptional community support, predictable builds, and excellent developer experience. The author discusses future improvements including faster compilation, better portability, ubiquitous const evaluation, simpler concurrency models, and expansion into new domains like web development and machine learning.

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    Awesome·26w

    The new WASM 3 release is huge for web devs...

    WebAssembly 3.0 introduces major improvements including 64-bit memory addressing, native garbage collection, tail call optimization, and overhauled exception handling. These features enable languages like Rust to compile more efficiently for the browser without JavaScript workarounds. The release transforms WebAssembly from a compilation target into a genuine multi-language runtime environment, with practical applications ranging from client-side image processing to running full databases in the browser.

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    Quarkus·26w

    Grpc Zero

    Quarkus gRPC Zero eliminates the need for native protoc binaries by running gRPC code generation entirely within the JVM. It embeds libprotobuf compiled to WebAssembly and translated to Java bytecode using Chicory, enabling portable and consistent builds across all platforms. Developers can continue writing .proto files as usual while avoiding platform-specific toolchain maintenance, simplifying CI pipelines, and reducing dependencies. The extension is currently experimental and available as a drop-in replacement for the standard quarkus-grpc-codegen artifact.

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    Bun·35w

    Bun v1.2.20

    Bun v1.2.20 fixes 141 issues and introduces significant performance improvements including reduced idle CPU usage and 40x faster AbortSignal.timeout. Key features include automatic yarn.lock migration to bun.lock, improved test diffing with new matchers like toHaveReturnedWith, TypeScript type testing with expectTypeOf, and WebAssembly streaming support. The release adds automatic ETag headers for static routes, Windows long path support, and enhanced workspace management with recursive flags for bun outdated and bun update commands.

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    Cloudflare·18w

    Python Workers redux: fast cold starts, packages, and a uv-first workflow

    Cloudflare Python Workers now support any Pyodide-compatible package with significantly faster cold starts than competitors. Using memory snapshots and WebAssembly architecture, Workers achieve 2.4x faster cold starts than AWS Lambda and 3x faster than Google Cloud Run when loading common packages. The platform integrates with uv for package management through pywrangler tooling, enabling easy deployment of Python applications globally. Technical innovations include memory snapshot restoration, careful entropy handling for randomness, and function pointer table management to eliminate Python initialization overhead during cold starts.

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    Hacker News·1y

    An embedded scripting language for Rust.

    Rhai is an embedded scripting language for Rust that provides an easy and safe way to add scripting to applications. It supports all CPU and OS targets of Rust, including WebAssembly and `no-std`. Rhai features a JavaScript-like syntax with dynamic typing, minimal dependencies, and tight integration with Rust functions and types. It offers robust security features, customizable APIs, and capabilities for object-oriented programming. The scripting engine is sandboxed and protected against various attacks, ensuring stability and security.

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    Hacker News·1y

    smparsons/retroboy: A Game Boy emulator written in Rust.

    Retro Boy is a cycle-accurate Game Boy emulator written in Rust that can be played on the web using WebAssembly. It features accurate CPU, audio, and graphics emulation, supports various cartridge types and cheats, and utilizes local storage for game progress. The React/TypeScript-based web frontend offers customizable controls and a responsive design. The project includes an extensive test suite and thorough documentation on setup and usage.

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    Video

    Anthony GG·1y

    Golang FAILED Me! Here's What Worked Instead

    The post discusses the author's journey in transitioning from Golang to another language for their project's front-end. Despite Golang's strengths in backend development, the author faced performance issues with WebAssembly. They explored various languages like Rust, Zig, and Odin, finally choosing Odin due to its simplicity and suitability for their needs. The author values learning through struggle and is committed to building their application with Odin while continuing to use Golang for the backend.

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