WASM intro

src/SUMMARY.md

@@ -297,6 +297,9 @@
   - [Dining Philosophers](exercises/concurrency/dining-philosophers-async.md)
   - [Broadcast Chat Application](exercises/concurrency/chat-app.md)
 
+# WebAssembly
+----
+- [WebAssembly basics](webassembly.md)
 
 # Final Words
 

src/webassembly.md

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# WebAssembly basics
+
+WebAssembly (WASM) is a binary instruction format designed to bring more languages to web browsers (historically, Javascript was the only available choice.) WASM is designed as a portable target for compilation of high-level languages like Rust, enabling it to be used in web applications. WASM has also grown beyond its scope because it can be run in a number of use cases beyond the web, including [nodejs](https://nodejs.dev/en/learn/nodejs-with-webassembly/) or the [Ethereum WebAsssembly Runtime](https://ewasm.readthedocs.io/en/mkdocs/README/)
+
+Rust is often considered as one of the best languages to compile to WebAssembly due to its safety, performance, and rather expansive WASM ecosystem.
+
+# Setting up the environment
+
+WebAssembly needs to be run in a Browser or a VM, therefore we will use a different set up for this class. Please navigate to [rust-wasm-template](https://github.com/google/comprehensive-rust/tree/main/src/rust-wasm-template) to view the installation instructions. Feel free to either clone the repository to run it locally, or open a new [Codespace on Github](https://codespaces.new/google/comprehensive-rust)
+
+## Install wasm-pack
+
+Recommended:
+
+```shell
+curl https://rustwasm.github.io/wasm-pack/installer/init.sh -sSf | sh
+```
+
+Alternatively, see the [installation page](https://rustwasm.github.io/wasm-pack/installer/).
+
+## Run the local server
+
+WebAssembly cannot be loaded from the `files://` protocol yet, so we need to spawn a Web server to serve the different files.
+
+```shell
+cd server
+
+cargo run
+```
+
+- On a devcontainer, go to `PORTS` and open the link under `Local Address` for Port `8080`
+- Locally, visit http://localhost:8080
+
+## Build WASM and copy target to the correct path
+
+This command needs to be re-run to view your latest changes.
+
+```shell
+cd project
+
+wasm-pack build --target web && cp -r pkg ../server
+```