WebAssembly (Wasm) is an open standard that allows high-performance instruction sets to run in the browser. It can run 10–100× faster than JavaScript on computation-intensive tasks. Code written in C, C++, Rust, and other languages is compiled to Wasm and runs in the browser.
Real applications: Figma (rendering), Google Earth Web, AutoCAD Web — all use Wasm. Unity and Unreal Engine export games to the browser. WASI (WebAssembly System Interface) enables Wasm outside the browser (server, edge). Docker's founder: "Wasm is like Linux in 2008 — it could change the platform landscape." Wasm doesn't replace JavaScript — it complements it.
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