The Secret Alliance That Could Give the Web a Massive Speed Boost

by Stephen Shankland, CNet

An unusually broad tie-up of browser makers is working on faster Web performance using new technology that bridges a years-old divide in the browser world.

Most new standards on the Web originate with one browser maker or another that must convince other browser makers to support it, typically by rallying developer support. WebAssembly, though, is well on the way toward achieving support from the top four browser makers: Microsoft, Google, Mozilla and Apple.

WebAssembly is a joint project among Microsoft, Google, Mozilla, and Apple to create a new Internet platform that combines the reach of the Web with the speed of software written to run natively on specific operating systems.

The near-term promise of WebAssembly is faster Web apps. In the longer run, it could mean the computing industry itself becomes more competitive.

WebAssembly, which is the result of the unification of Mozilla’s Firefox team and Google’s Chrome team, could result in the ability to browse the Web much faster, as well as providing a smoother experience when loading Web apps. The potential “programmer liberation” that could result from WebAssembly’s success would help loosen the grip that Apple and Google have on the technology industry with their iOS and Android operating systems.

“I’m happy to report that we at Mozilla have started working with Chromium, Edge, and WebKit engineers on creating a new standard, WebAssembly,” says project leader Luke Wagner.

At its most basic level, WebAssembly provides a different way to let browsers run software written in C, C++, or other languages. WebAssembly enables developers to create a program that is between traditional programming languages and machine code, which frees the browser from the work of creating the machine code while ensuring the software will run on any device with a browser regardless of the underlying hardware. WebAssembly’s intermediate state also means programmers can work with their language of choice. Read the report