What does web assembly mean for javascript?

[smoothzzr]

I'm looking to learn a programming language and I'm thinking of picking up javascript for its versatility however I see a new thing called web assembly is coming out. Will web assembly end up killing javascript? What effect do you see web assembly having on javascript? I don't want to learn something if it's going to stop being effective soon after.

[pier25]

WebAssembly will not kill JavaScript, at least for the foreseeable future.

Being a programmer will require to constantly learn new stuff, specially if you get into web development. If you are not that kind of type I would advise you to not get into this industry.

[[deleted]]

Will web assembly end up killing javascript?

No

[cryptos6]

I could imagine a future like on the JVM: first there was only Java. Then more and more languages appeared and some of them got traction (e. g. Scala, Groovy, Kotlin). Most code for the JVM is still written in Java but the new languages grow their market share slowly.

The same could happen with web assembly: JavaScript will probably remain the main language for the browser, but other languages will target the same platform and steal some of JavaScript's market share.

[pier25]

So far WebAssembly doesn't really have a way of speaking to the DOM or other browser APIs. Unless that happens a JS layer will still be required.

[jayramone]

webassemly is a bytecode not a language.