Wasmer 5.0, the latest stable version of the WebAssembly runtime, has introduced significant updates, most notably its support for iOS. This version, which was announced on October 29, brings WebAssembly capabilities to Apple’s mobile operating system for the first time. By utilizing an interpreted mode that leverages Google’s V8 JavaScript/WebAssembly engine, the Wasmi interpreter, and the WebAssembly Micro Runtime (WAMR), developers can now execute WebAssembly modules on iOS devices. This advancement opens up new possibilities for building high-performance applications within Apple’s ecosystem, providing developers with more flexibility in targeting iOS.
In addition to iOS support, Wasmer 5.0 focuses on optimizing its codebase for speed and efficiency. One of the most notable changes is the removal of support for the Emscripten compiler toolchain. This decision came after it was found that the Emscripten bindings had been largely unused for the past two years. By eliminating this dependency, Wasmer has reduced its codebase by 20,000 lines, streamlining development and improving performance. This leaner codebase paves the way for faster feature development and future updates.
Performance improvements also take center stage in Wasmer 5.0. The module deserialization process is now up to 50% faster, allowing developers to load WebAssembly modules more efficiently when invoking functions like Module::deserialize or running modules via wasmer run. This improvement boosts the overall execution speed and makes the platform more responsive, an important factor for developers looking to build performance-sensitive applications.
Additionally, Wasmer 5.0 incorporates LLVM 18, the latest version of the LLVM compiler toolchain, ensuring that developers have access to the most up-to-date optimizations. This new release also brings improvements in backend performance, with the Cranelift and LLVM backends being approximately 8% faster than in the previous Wasmer 4.4.0 release. These enhancements further position Wasmer as a high-performance WebAssembly runtime, offering developers both a more streamlined experience and powerful new tools for building robust applications.