WebAssembly performance in the Node.js environment

• Published in: Программные системы и вычислительные методы no. 2; pp. 12 - 34
• Main Authors: Karpovich, Vladimir Dmitrievich, Gosudarev, Ilya Borisovich
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.02.2025
• ISSN: 2454-0714; 2454-0714
• DOI: 10.7256/2454-0714.2025.2.74049

Modern runtime environments such as browsers, Node.js, and others provide developers with tools that go beyond traditional JavaScript. This study focuses on a modern approach to building web applications where components written in different programming languages can be executed and shared using WebAssembly. The subject of the research is the testing and analysis of performance benchmarks comparing JavaScript and WebAssembly modules in the Node.js runtime. The focus is on evaluating performance in computational tasks, memory interaction, data processing, and cross-language communication. The author thoroughly explores topics such as WebAssembly integration in applications, its advantages for resource-intensive tasks like image processing, and the objectivity, representativeness, and reproducibility of the tests. The work follows an applied, experimental approach. It includes performance comparisons between pure JavaScript and WebAssembly modules. Metrics like response time and system resource consumption were used to assess efficiency. The scientific novelty of this work lies in the development and theoretical grounding of testing approaches for web applications using WebAssembly. Unlike most existing studies focused on WebAssembly's performance and security in browser environments, this work emphasizes automated testing of WebAssembly modules outside the browser — a relatively unexplored area until now. A methodological approach is proposed for testing WebAssembly modules in Node.js, including principles for test structuring, integration with JavaScript components, and execution analysis. This approach takes into account the specifics of the server environment, where WebAssembly is increasingly used — particularly for high-load computational modules, cross-language logic, and secure isolated execution. The novelty also lies in defining criteria to evaluate whether certain application components are suitable for migration to WebAssembly in terms of testability, providing developers with a tool for making architectural decisions. The proposed ideas are backed by experimental results, including test case implementations for WebAssembly and JavaScript interaction scenarios.