Dumb question: could you run this in frontend js using the browser's js engine and wasm environment similar to WebContainers? Maybe `fs` is just in-memory, and some things like forking are disabled. It'd be cool to have "nodejs" in the web!
Ah and kudos to Syrus and his team for this release. Edge.js's architecture seems to have many similarities with BrowserPod. I see it as proof that we are both going in the right direction!
I'm Syrus, from Wasmer. We built Edge.js in a few weeks after different trials trying to bring Node.js to the Edge. We used AI and Codex heavily for this project, as otherwise the timeline would have spanned to a year plus to develop.
The summary of this announcement is that Edge.js:
* Runs using WebAssembly when in `--safe` mode
* It's fully compatible with Node.js (passing all their spec tests for non-VM modules)
* It has a pluggable JS engine architecture: can work with V8, Javascript, SpiderMonkey, QuickJS, Hermes, etc.
Only the current working directory will be exposed/mounted to the runtime (we do this to facilitate the DX when running local files without requiring the user to add extra flags).
As a fun exercise, you can try reading process.cwd() from edge in --safe mode and without it.
* a refactor of Node.js, but using a standardized API for JS engine interop
* Integration with the Wasmer CLI so it will run JS with v8 but, everything else in Webassembly
Interesting idea.
Could be a much lighter weight way to sandbox JS...
Awesome project!
Dumb question: could you run this in frontend js using the browser's js engine and wasm environment similar to WebContainers? Maybe `fs` is just in-memory, and some things like forking are disabled. It'd be cool to have "nodejs" in the web!
I work on a project that does exactly that (and more): https://browserpod.io/.
Currently it supports Node, but we plan to add Python, Ruby, git, and more.
You can see it in action in this demo: https://vitedemo.browserpod.io
More info here: https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/browserpod-10
Ah and kudos to Syrus and his team for this release. Edge.js's architecture seems to have many similarities with BrowserPod. I see it as proof that we are both going in the right direction!
It’s not a dumb question at all.
And yes, it will allow running Node.js apps fully on the browser, in a way that’s more compatible than any other alternative!
Stay tuned!
Hi HN!
I'm Syrus, from Wasmer. We built Edge.js in a few weeks after different trials trying to bring Node.js to the Edge. We used AI and Codex heavily for this project, as otherwise the timeline would have spanned to a year plus to develop.
The summary of this announcement is that Edge.js:
Super happy to answer any questions you may have!> * Runs using WebAssembly when in `--safe` mode
Why is safe mode opt-in?
Maybe I’m just dense, but it says the fs module is fully supported, so what happens when I try to read a file from disk if the app is fully sandboxed?
Only the current working directory will be exposed/mounted to the runtime (we do this to facilitate the DX when running local files without requiring the user to add extra flags).
As a fun exercise, you can try reading process.cwd() from edge in --safe mode and without it.
It's a bit confusing.
Roughly:
* a refactor of Node.js, but using a standardized API for JS engine interop * Integration with the Wasmer CLI so it will run JS with v8 but, everything else in Webassembly
Interesting idea.
Could be a much lighter weight way to sandbox JS...
We are so deep into the weeds that sometimes is hard for us to realize that maybe we are not explaining in the best terms.
What was the most confusing thing in the blogpost? I'd like to polish a bit more to make it clearer! Thanks a lot!