WebAssembly
The WebAssembly JavaScript object acts as the namespace for all WebAssembly-related functionality.
Unlike most other global objects, WebAssembly is not a constructor (it is not a function object). You can compare it to {{jsxref("Math")}} , which is also a namespace object for mathematical constants and functions, or to {{jsxref("Intl")}} which is the namespace object for internationalization constructors and other language-sensitive functions.
Description
The primary uses for the WebAssembly object are:
- Loading WebAssembly code, using the
WebAssembly.instantiate()function. - Creating new memory and table instances via the
WebAssembly.Memory()/WebAssembly.Table()constructors. - Providing facilities to handle errors that occur in WebAssembly via the
WebAssembly.CompileError()/WebAssembly.LinkError()/WebAssembly.RuntimeError()constructors.
Interfaces
WebAssembly.CompileError- : Indicates an error during WebAssembly decoding or validation.
WebAssembly.Global- : Represents a global variable instance, accessible from both JavaScript and importable/exportable across one or more
WebAssembly.Moduleinstances. This allows dynamic linking of multiple modules.
- : Represents a global variable instance, accessible from both JavaScript and importable/exportable across one or more
WebAssembly.Instance- : Is a stateful, executable instance of a
WebAssembly.Module
- : Is a stateful, executable instance of a
WebAssembly.LinkError- : Indicates an error during module instantiation (besides traps from the start function).
WebAssembly.Memory- : An object whose
bufferproperty is a resizable{{jsxref("ArrayBuffer")}}that holds the raw bytes of memory accessed by a WebAssemblyInstance.
- : An object whose
WebAssembly.Module- : Contains stateless WebAssembly code that has already been compiled by the browser and can be efficiently shared with Workers, and instantiated multiple times.
WebAssembly.RuntimeError- : Error type that is thrown whenever WebAssembly specifies a trap.
WebAssembly.Table- : An array-like structure representing a WebAssembly Table, which stores references, such as function references.
WebAssembly.Tag- : An object that represents a type of WebAssembly exception.
WebAssembly.Exception- : A WebAssembly exception object that can be thrown, caught, and rethrown both within and across WebAssembly/JavaScript boundaries.
Static methods
WebAssembly.compile()- : Compiles a
WebAssembly.Modulefrom WebAssembly binary code, leaving instantiation as a separate step.
- : Compiles a
WebAssembly.compileStreaming()- : compiles a
WebAssembly.Moduledirectly from a streamed underlying source, leaving instantiation as a separate step.
- : compiles a
WebAssembly.instantiate()- : The primary API for compiling and instantiating WebAssembly code, returning both a
Moduleand its firstInstance.
- : The primary API for compiling and instantiating WebAssembly code, returning both a
WebAssembly.instantiateStreaming()- : Compiles and instantiates a WebAssembly module directly from a streamed underlying source, returning both a
Moduleand its firstInstance.
- : Compiles and instantiates a WebAssembly module directly from a streamed underlying source, returning both a
WebAssembly.validate()- : Validates a given typed array of WebAssembly binary code, returning whether the bytes are valid WebAssembly code (
true) or not (false).
- : Validates a given typed array of WebAssembly binary code, returning whether the bytes are valid WebAssembly code (
Examples
Stream a Wasm module then compile and instantiate it
The following example (see our instantiate-streaming.html demo on GitHub, and view it live also) directly streams a Wasm module from an underlying source then compiles and instantiates it, the promise fulfilling with a ResultObject. Because the instantiateStreaming() function accepts a promise for a Response object, you can directly pass it a fetch() call, and it will pass the response into the function when it fulfills.
const importObject = {
my_namespace: { imported_func: (arg) => console.log(arg) },
};
WebAssembly.instantiateStreaming(fetch("simple.wasm"), importObject).then(
(obj) => obj.instance.exports.exported_func(),
);
The ResultObject’s .instance property is then accessed, and the contained exported function invoked.
Specifications
{{Specifications}}
Browser compatibility
{{Compat}}