Docker and WebAssembly (Wasm) represent two pivotal technologies that have reshaped the software development landscape. You’ve probably started to hear more about Wasm in the past few years as it has gained in popularity, and perhaps you’ve also heard about the benefits of using it in your application stack. This may have led you to think about the differences between Wasm and Docker, especially because the technologies work together so closely. By Savannah Ostrowski, and Sohan Maheshwar.
Wasm is a compact binary instruction format governed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It’s a portable compilation target for more than 40 programming languages, like C/C++, C#, JavaScript, Go, and Rust. In other words, Wasm is a bytecode format encoded to run on a stack-based virtual machine. The article then deals with:
- What’s Wasm?
- Why use Wasm?
- Docker vs. Wasm: How are they related?
- Benefits of using Docker and Wasm together
- How to enable Wasm on Docker Desktop
- How Docker supports WebAssembly
WebAssembly is continuously evolving, so you’ll need a tight pulse to keep up with ecosystem developments. One recent advancement relates to how the new WebAssembly Component model will impact shims for the various container runtimes. At Docker, we’re working to make it simple for developers to create Wasm containers and enhance the developer experience. Good read!
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