WebAssembly, or WASM for short, is a small, fast binary format that promises near-native performance for web applications. WebAssembly was designed to be a compilation target for any language, JavaScript also being one of them. Although there are many developers who think WebAssembly is trying to replace JavaScript, it’s important to think of WebAssembly as Javascript’s best friend.

Developers are using Web Assembly when writing client-side apps for the web and to build high-speed web apps in the language of their choice. A few good use case examples are games, music, streaming, video editing and CAD applications. It will perhaps be the next generation of JavaScript and one to watch in 2020.