Creepy logo, huh?
Anyway, WebAssembly is something I've long advocated for. It is an open standard intended to support any programming language on any operating system and allows for the creation of a low-level virtual machine, providing near-native code execution, designed for the web by having an API that allows compiled WASM files to interact with JavaScript APIs.
As an open standard, it has been naturally extended with the creation of the WebAssembly System Interface (WASI). With WASI, it is possible to extend it beyond the web and create truly portable applications written in every language imaginable. Literally write once, run anywhere, regardless of the language you made it on. Unlike Java or .NET, we can have our cake and eat it to all thanks to W3C and Big Tech taking the rare opportunity to set aside their differences. Now, you know it's working because it is invisible. While I'm normally not a fan of managed runtime environments, WebAssembly is the exception.
Today, we take games, for example, running on our browser for granted - something Google, Apple (under Jobs), and Microsoft all foresaw since the 90s. I mean, hell, we practically brought Flash back from the dead. All thanks to WebAssembly.
So the idea of WebOS, Firefox OS or even early ChromeOS of the 2010s was never far-fetched, just ahead of its time. But now these companies don't give a shit because AI✨ is the new trend. Which is frustrating when everything is literally just a web app now! Please, someone in the WebOS or Firefox OS communities, hear me out on this.
But this is what brings me to Extism. Extism takes these innovations and turns them into a plugin architecture. It's no operating system, don't get me wrong, but it certainly takes advantage of WebAssembly's unique properties. It basically takes the concepts that every managed language does, treats their binaries as both executables or libraries, and does for every programming language on the planet with WebAssembly at its core. This is pure genius.
Extism is the universal plugin architecture we all know was possible that is certainly worth exploring. It can lower the programming language barrier when it comes to modding, for example, while providing safer access to system-level functions or the bare metal capabilities. Now, WebAssembly itself can already do this - it's how we have Doom in the browser - but having it in library form is everything you can ask for. It bridges the best of parts of something like Java with something as native and fast as Rust. A good example of this in practice is GameBox.
So, yeah....
