WebAssembly, otherwise known as Wasm, is a powerful technology rapidly revolutionizing how applications are built and deployed, given its efficiency in abstracting hardware and enabling reusable code.

Initially developed for web browsers to address the limitations of JavaScript, Wasm has found its way into everything from cloud-native applications to the Amazon Fire TV and, more recently, tiny edge devices like Sony Midokura cameras and sensors. 

At its core, WebAssembly is a binary instruction format that serves as a portable runtime and compile target with support for many programming languages. This means developers can write code in their language of choice, such as C/C++, Rust, Golang, etc., and compile it to Wasm, then run it efficiently in web browsers or other runtime environments. 

Last week, ARC Advisory Group published a new white paper that looks at the immense potential WebAssembly has to bring these software development benefits to industrial companies.

Authored by analyst Harry Forbes, the white paper specifically highlights how WebAssembly provides portable executable code that can run on a wide variety of hardware platforms, scaling from the cloud down to extremely small and constrained devices. The white paper also features Atym, a software company with a WebAssembly-based solution that enables developers to develop, deploy, and manage containerized applications for billions of resource-constrained edge devices.

A decade in the making, WebAssembly has been attracting greater attention within the cloud-native software community, given the overall expansion of automated industrial systems and the benefits of scalability and flexibility. Portability is becoming increasingly important for applications as more connected systems with smaller-footprint edge devices are becoming commonplace.

Developers of industrial software are interested in WebAssembly for these same reasons, according to the white paper, The Attraction of WebAssembly for Embedded Industrial Software.

"Atym is leveraging WebAssembly as part of the Linux Foundation (News - Alert)'s Ocre project to enable OCI-type application containerization on resource-constrained edge devices with as little as 1MB of memory," said Stephen Berard, CTO of Atym. "In addition to the ability of Atym's solution to enable resource-constrained industrial devices to be deployed, managed, and maintained using modern cloud-native software methods, Atym can extend the container solution to hardware that can't support Docker or Linux."

Unlike traditional containerization technologies like Docker, Wasm-based application containers do not require Linux as a foundation and are portable across any silicon architecture, including MCU-based devices with as little as 1MB of memory.

Applications can be programmed in different languages (e.g., C, Rust, Golang) and executed on devices in isolated containers, providing greater development flexibility, security, and IP protection, and individual containers can be fractionally updated on devices without requiring a reboot or impacting the overall code base.

"Benefits include significantly reduced development complexity and cost, improved security and manageability, and simplified ecosystem collaboration – especially when implementing new technologies like on-device AI/ML," Forbes writes in the white paper.

WebAssembly's origins are deeply rooted in the evolution of the web. Early on, the web was primarily used for static content and simple interactions.

“Over time, the web transformed into a platform capable of hosting rich, interactive experiences, from video streaming services to complex single-page applications (SPAs). This has commonly been referred to as 'Web 2.0,’ Berard explains. “While JavaScript enabled much of this innovation, its limitations became apparent as developers began pushing the boundaries of what the web could handle. Today, we find ourselves in a completely new world, especially as the adoption of ML and AI in intelligent industrial solutions continues to impact how products are manufactured in increasingly automated factories of the future.”

While WebAssembly's initial design focused on the browser, its utility quickly expanded to other environments, according to Berard.

"Developers began recognizing WebAssembly's potential to run secure, efficient, and portable applications outside of browsers, paving the way for it to enter new areas like cloud-native applications spanning the cloud to IoT and edge computing devices. This led to the introduction of the WebAssembly System Interface (WASI), which provides a standardized way for Wasm modules to interact with operating system resources such as the file system, network, and system clock, all while maintaining WebAssembly's secure sandbox and portability."

ARC and Atym are presenting a webinar on March 19, hosted by ARC Advisory's Patrick Arnold and the co-founders of Atym, which will feature more about the technology, benefits, and use cases in the embedded space, and industry collaboration among leading companies, including Bosch, Emerson (News - Alert), and Siemens.