[AssemblyScript] gl-matrix port to WebAssembly

toji / gl-matrix

Javascript Matrix and Vector library for High Performance WebGL apps

glmatrix.net

MIT License

5.37k stars 721 forks source link

[AssemblyScript] gl-matrix port to WebAssembly #420

Open StEvUgnIn opened 3 years ago

StEvUgnIn commented 3 years ago

Hi everyone, I am working since yesterday on the port of gl-matrix to WebAssembly.

Define objectives are:

[X] compatibility with TypeScript preserved (using std/assemblyscript/portable definitions)
[x] minimal changes from the original code
[x] encapsulation and compatibility with projects using the JavaScript implementation

I will publish as soon as I have a solid draft to present :) But the code of gl-matrix is concise, not too shaby for JavaScript code, easily portable to TS/AS environments.

StEvUgnIn commented 3 years ago

Don't hesitate to share your feedback on my ongoing work here

stefnotch commented 3 years ago

Out of curiosity, how will garbage collection be handled?

StEvUgnIn commented 3 years ago

Garbage collection makes more sense in bigger projects. Memory is handled manually on Webassembly by the programmer. You have a ton of projects porting C/C++, JavaScript, Rust to Webassembly.

Webassembly is designed to work alongside JavaScript. That means that the binary needs glue code to be able to run in an application (client or server).

After research, the AssemblyScript team is bringing some experimental support for GC. Here is a link https://www.assemblyscript.org/runtime.html

trusktr commented 3 years ago

AssemblyScript has automatic GC currently.

if an AssemblyScript Wasm module is no longer referenced by JS, the it is collected (this is regular stuff, not assemblyscript-specific).
If an AssemblyScript Wasm module is still held by JS, then every time JS invokes the module, AssemblyScript does it's own GC (custom implementation, not the upcoming Wasm GC) on each call. The developer, by default, does not need to worry about it.

StEvUgnIn commented 3 years ago

Thanks for your explanation @trusktr 🙂

StEvUgnIn commented 3 years ago

https://travis-ci.org/github/toji/gl-matrix/builds/764734352 😎

StEvUgnIn commented 3 years ago

@stefnotch @trusktr @pyrotechnick @AlexMax https://github.com/toji/gl-matrix/pull/421#pullrequestreview-626668492