Notes on running Go in the browser with WebAssembly
Eli Bendersky's article explores integrating Go with WebAssembly, showcasing examples of calling Go functions from JavaScript, using TinyGo for smaller binaries, and employing Web Workers to maintain UI responsiveness.
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Eli Bendersky's article discusses the integration of Go with WebAssembly (WASM) for running Go code in web browsers. He highlights the potential of WebAssembly for executing existing Go projects in the browser and provides practical examples of how to call Go functions from JavaScript. The article outlines a basic setup for invoking Go functions, such as calculating the harmonic series, and demonstrates how to manipulate the Document Object Model (DOM) using Go. Bendersky also introduces TinyGo, a lightweight alternative to the standard Go compiler, which produces smaller WASM binaries but comes with some limitations. Additionally, he addresses the issue of blocking the main thread during long computations and suggests using Web Workers to run Go code in a separate thread, allowing the UI to remain responsive. The article includes code snippets and links to a GitHub repository for further exploration of the examples provided.
- WebAssembly allows Go code to run in web browsers, enabling the use of existing Go projects.
- The article provides examples of calling Go functions from JavaScript and manipulating the DOM using Go.
- TinyGo is introduced as a lightweight alternative for compiling Go to WebAssembly, producing smaller binaries.
- Using Web Workers can prevent UI blocking during long-running Go computations in the browser.
- The article includes practical code examples and links to a GitHub repository for further learning.
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1 commentsRelated
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