Week 22: WebAssembly with Rust (Advanced)

Overview

Week 22 explores WebAssembly (Wasm) development with Rust, teaching you how to build high-performance web applications using Rust compiled to WebAssembly. You’ll learn about Wasm fundamentals, JavaScript interop, and how to build full-stack Rust applications that run in the browser.

Day 1-3: Wasm Fundamentals

Topics

• WebAssembly introduction:
  • Wasm virtual machine architecture
  • Linear memory model
  • Execution model
  • Security model
  • Browser support and limitations
• Building for the Wasm target:
  • Setting up the wasm32 target
  • Using wasm-pack
  • Cargo configuration for Wasm
  • Size optimization techniques
  • Debug symbols and source maps
• wasm-bindgen deep dive:
  • JavaScript/Rust FFI
  • Type conversions
  • Memory management
  • Async support
  • Function exports/imports
  • WebIDL bindings
  • Custom sections
• Rust core libraries in Wasm:
  • std vs no_std in Wasm
  • Available APIs in Wasm
  • Working with the web platform
  • Using non-browser Wasm runtimes
• Optimizing Wasm performance:
  • Size optimization
  • Speed optimization
  • Memory usage patterns
  • Threading with Web Workers
  • SIMD support in Wasm

Resources

• Rust and WebAssembly Book
• wasm-pack Documentation
• wasm-bindgen Guide
• Mozilla WebAssembly Guide
• Rust Wasm Working Group
• Awesome Rust and WebAssembly
• Twiggy Size Profiler

Use Cases

• Browser-based applications
• Web games
• Image/video processing in the browser
• Data visualization
• Browser extensions
• Progressive web apps
• Edge computing
• Serverless functions

Day 4-7: Full-stack Rust with WebAssembly

Topics

• Frontend frameworks:
  • Yew: Virtual DOM-based framework
  • Leptos: Fine-grained reactivity
  • Dioxus: React-like API
  • Seed: Elm-inspired framework
  • Component patterns and state management
• WebGPU integration:
  • wgpu-rs in WebAssembly
  • GPU-accelerated rendering
  • Compute shaders
  • 3D graphics programming
  • Interaction with Canvas API
• Server-side rendering:
  • Isomorphic Rust applications
  • Hydration patterns
  • SSR with Wasm
  • Performance considerations
• Advanced JS interoperability:
  • Web APIs integration
  • Custom event handling
  • DOM manipulation
  • Working with browser APIs
  • Web components
• Testing and deployment:
  • Unit testing Wasm modules
  • Integration testing with headless browsers
  • CI/CD for Wasm projects
  • Bundling and deployment strategies
  • Content delivery optimization

Resources

• Yew Framework
• Leptos Framework
• wgpu-rs Documentation
• Trunk Bundler
• WebAssembly Studio
• Rust 🦀 and WebAssembly 🕸
• Fullstack Rust

Use Cases

• Single-page applications (SPAs)
• Interactive data visualizations
• Web-based games and simulations
• Cross-platform applications
• High-performance web components
• WebGL/WebGPU applications
• WebXR (VR/AR) experiences
• Advanced interactive websites

Exercises

1. Create a simple Rust library compiled to WebAssembly and call it from JavaScript
2. Build a to-do application using Yew or Leptos
3. Implement a WebAssembly-powered image processing function
4. Create a custom WebAssembly component that interacts with the DOM
5. Build a data visualization using Rust, WebAssembly, and Canvas/SVG
6. Implement server-side rendering for a Rust frontend framework

Advanced Challenges

1. Create a browser-based game using Rust, WebAssembly, and WebGL/WebGPU
2. Build a full-stack application with Rust on both frontend and backend
3. Implement a WebAssembly-powered machine learning model that runs in the browser
4. Create a custom Rust/WebAssembly framework for a specific domain
5. Build a real-time collaborative application using WebAssembly and WebSockets

Next Steps

After completing Week 22, you’ll be able to build sophisticated web applications using Rust and WebAssembly. Week 23 will focus on advanced concurrency patterns, exploring custom synchronization primitives and executors to master Rust’s concurrency capabilities.