This post outlines a vision for first-class WebAssembly support in Swift, enabling developers to compile Swift code directly to Wasm for use in web browsers and other Wasm environments. The proposal emphasizes seamless integration with existing JavaScript ecosystems, allowing bidirectional communication between Swift and JavaScript code. It also aims for near-native performance by leveraging Wasm's capabilities, and proposes tools and workflows to simplify the development process, such as automatic generation of JavaScript bindings for Swift code. The ultimate goal is to empower Swift developers to build high-performance web applications and leverage the growing Wasm ecosystem, while maintaining Swift's core values of safety, performance, and expressiveness.
This forum post outlines a comprehensive vision for integrating WebAssembly (Wasm) support into the Swift programming language, aiming to enable Swift developers to target the web and other Wasm-compatible environments seamlessly. The author emphasizes that this integration should prioritize ergonomics, performance, and interoperability, ensuring a smooth and efficient developer experience.
The proposal suggests a two-pronged approach: "Swift-in-Wasm" and "Wasm-in-Swift." Swift-in-Wasm focuses on compiling Swift code directly into WebAssembly, allowing developers to write web applications and other Wasm-targeted software using familiar Swift syntax and libraries. This approach entails significant modifications to the Swift compiler and runtime to support the Wasm target. Key aspects include efficient memory management within the Wasm environment, handling Swift's runtime features like automatic reference counting (ARC), and ensuring compatibility with JavaScript and the Web API through well-defined interoperability mechanisms. Performance is a crucial consideration, and the proposal emphasizes generating optimized Wasm code that leverages the capabilities of modern web browsers and other Wasm runtimes.
Conversely, Wasm-in-Swift aims to enable the embedding and execution of pre-existing Wasm modules within Swift applications. This functionality would allow developers to leverage existing Wasm libraries and components within their Swift projects, expanding the ecosystem available to them. This aspect involves designing robust APIs within Swift to load, interact with, and manage Wasm modules. It also requires addressing issues such as type mapping between Swift and Wasm types, and ensuring safe and efficient communication between the Swift and Wasm environments.
The long-term vision described in the post envisions Swift becoming a first-class language for Wasm development, empowering developers to build high-performance web applications, serverless functions, and other Wasm-based software. The proposal also highlights the potential for leveraging Wasm to distribute Swift code to various platforms beyond the web, extending the reach and applicability of the language. The author anticipates that this integration will benefit both the Swift and Wasm communities, fostering collaboration and growth in both ecosystems. Finally, the post acknowledges that realizing this vision requires significant effort and invites community feedback and contributions to shape the future of Wasm support in Swift.
Summary of Comments ( 97 )
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43593596
Hacker News users discussed the potential and challenges of Swift for WebAssembly. Some expressed excitement about the prospect of using Swift for frontend development, highlighting its performance and type safety as advantages over JavaScript. Others were more cautious, pointing to the existing maturity of JavaScript and its ecosystem, and questioning whether Swift could gain significant traction. Concerns were raised about the size of Swift compiled output and the integration with existing JavaScript libraries and frameworks. The potential for full-stack Swift development and server-side applications with WebAssembly was also mentioned as a motivating factor. Several users suggested that prioritizing the developer experience and tooling would be crucial for adoption.
The Hacker News post "A Vision for WebAssembly Support in Swift," linking to a Swift forums discussion about bringing WebAssembly support to the Swift programming language, generated a moderate amount of discussion. Several commenters expressed enthusiasm and interest in the possibilities.
A significant thread focused on the potential benefits and drawbacks compared to existing solutions like JavaScript and TypeScript. One commenter questioned whether Swift offered enough advantages over TypeScript to justify the effort, pointing out that TypeScript already enjoys wide adoption and robust tooling for web development. Counterarguments highlighted Swift's performance potential, strong typing, and modern language features as reasons why it could be a compelling alternative. This back-and-forth explored the trade-offs between a potentially faster, more robust language like Swift and the established ecosystem of JavaScript/TypeScript.
Several commenters discussed the potential impact of WebAssembly support on Swift's overall adoption. Some speculated that it could broaden Swift's reach significantly, allowing it to break free from its primary association with Apple platforms and become a more general-purpose language. Others expressed skepticism, suggesting that the web development landscape is already crowded and that Swift might struggle to gain traction against established players.
Another recurring theme was the practical considerations of implementing WebAssembly support in Swift. Commenters discussed the challenges of garbage collection and interoperability with existing JavaScript code. The intricacies of efficiently bridging Swift's runtime environment with the browser's WebAssembly implementation were also touched upon.
Some commenters brought up specific use cases where Swift in the browser could be particularly advantageous, including computationally intensive tasks and porting existing Swift code to the web. The potential for improved performance in web applications was a recurring point of interest.
While there was general excitement about the prospect, many comments acknowledged the significant work involved and the need for careful consideration of the technical challenges. The overall sentiment leaned towards cautious optimism, with commenters expressing interest in seeing how the project evolves and whether it can deliver on its potential.