JavaScript Web applications struggle to attain and retain reliable performance. JavaScript's dynamic type system and garbage collection pauses don't help. Seemingly small code changes can result in drastic performance regressions if you accidentally wander off the JIT's happy path.

Rust gives programmers low-level control and reliable performance. It is free from the non-deterministic garbage collection pauses that plague JavaScript. Programmers have control over indirection, monomorphization, and memory layout.

Code size is incredibly important since the .wasm must be downloaded over the network. Rust lacks a runtime, enabling small .wasm sizes because there is no extra bloat included like a garbage collector. You only pay (in code size) for the functions you actually use.

Existing code bases don't need to be thrown away. You can start by porting your most performance-sensitive JavaScript functions to Rust to gain immediate benefits. And you can even stop there if you want to.

Rust and WebAssembly integrates with existing JavaScript tooling. It supports ECMAScript modules and you can continue using the tooling you already love, like npm, Webpack, and Greenkeeper.

Rust has the modern amenities that developers have come to expect, such as:

• strong package management with cargo,

• expressive (and zero-cost) abstractions,

• and a welcoming community! 😊