First, what exactly is WebAssembly (WASM). It’s this new fancy technology that allows you to run compiled code in the browser without any plugins or extensions required! That’s right , no more waiting for your favorite website to load because it’s using some obscure language that only a handful of people know how to write.
Now, let me introduce you to Go (golang), which is this amazing programming language created by Google that makes writing code fun and easy! It’s perfect for beginners who want to learn web development without getting bogged down in all the technical jargon. Plus, it has a built-in package manager called “go get” that makes installing libraries and dependencies a breeze.
So how do we use Go with WebAssembly? Well, first you need to create a new project using your favorite text editor or IDE (Integrated Development Environment). Then, add the following line at the top of your main file:
// This script is used to import the "syscall/js" library for using Go with WebAssembly.
// Package declaration for main package.
package main
// Import statement for "syscall/js" library.
import "syscall/js"
This imports the JavaScript bindings for Go, which allows us to interact with WebAssembly modules. Next, create a new function that will be called when our module is loaded in the browser:
// This imports the JavaScript bindings for Go, which allows us to interact with WebAssembly modules.
import "syscall/js"
// This creates a new function that will be called when our module is loaded in the browser.
func init() {
// This sets the global object "hello" to the function "hello".
js.Global().Set("hello", hello)
}
// This is our main function that gets executed when the module is loaded.
func hello(this js.Value, args []js.Value) interface{} {
// This gets the first argument (which should be a string) and prints it to the console.
message := args[0].String()
fmt.Println("Hello " + message + "!")
// This returns nil to indicate that the function has completed successfully.
return nil
}
In this example, we’re using the `Set` method of the global object (which is equivalent to window in JavaScript) to set a new property called ‘hello’. This function takes two arguments: the first one being the context (in our case, it’s just the browser), and the second one being an array of arguments passed from JavaScript.
Now that we have our code ready, let’s compile it into WebAssembly using Go’s built-in toolchain:
# This line compiles the Go code into WebAssembly and names the output file "helloworld.wasm"
go build -o helloworld.wasm main.go
This will generate a new file called ‘helloworld.wasm’, which contains the compiled code for our module. Next, we need to create an HTML file that loads this module and calls our function:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Hello World</title>
<!-- Load the WebAssembly module -->
<script src="helloworld.wasm"></script> <!-- This line loads the WebAssembly module 'helloworld.wasm' -->
<!-- Call our function when the page is loaded -->
<script>
// Get a reference to the 'hello' property we set earlier using Go's JavaScript bindings
const hello = window.hello; // This line creates a reference to the 'hello' property set by Go's JavaScript bindings
// Define a new function that calls our Go function with an argument (in this case, "world")
function sayHello() {
// Call the 'hello' function and pass it an array containing one string argument ("world")
return hello("world"); // This line calls the 'hello' function with the argument "world"
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Add some content to our page -->
<h1>Welcome to WebAssembly using Go!</h1> <!-- This line adds a heading to the page -->
<!-- Call the 'sayHello' function when a button is clicked -->
<button onclick="sayHello()">Say Hello</button> <!-- This line creates a button that calls the 'sayHello' function when clicked -->
</body>
</html>
In this example, we’re loading our WebAssembly module using a `