WebAssembly began its life in the browser, promising near-native performance for web applications. But today, its most transformative potential lies beyond the browser—in the cloud, at the edge, and everywhere that server-side applications run. As WebAssembly matures from a browser technology to a universal runtime, it’s reshaping how we think about portable, secure, and efficient computing.
This first part of the book introduces you to WebAssembly from an architect’s perspective, building your understanding from the ground up. You’ll discover why WebAssembly’s unique combination of performance, security, and language agnosticism makes it ideal for modern server-side development, particularly in serverless and edge-computing environments, where cold starts and resource efficiency matter most.