Asterius: A Haskell to WebAssembly Compiler

A brief introduction to the project:

Asterius, a public GitHub project developed by Tweag, is an open-source Haskell to WebAssembly (Wasm) compiler. Its primary purpose is to compile existing Haskell programs directly to WebAssembly, allowing the vast ecosystem of Haskell code to be utilized in new and exciting web environments. It also aims to enable interoperation between Haskell and JavaScript in the web browser or Node.js, serving a vital niche in bridging the gap between these two prominent programming worlds.

Project Overview:

Asterius seeks to extend Haskell's reach by compiling existing Haskell codebases directly to WebAssembly. It addresses a major need in the programming community for a Haskell to WebAssembly compiler that can harness the Haskell-rich compilation targets. Its principal audiences are Haskell developers looking to extend their codebases to web environments and JavaScript developers eager to explore interoperation with Haskell in their web projects.

Project Features:

Asterius features a fully-fledged Haskell to WebAssembly compiler, complete with garbage collection, efficient handling of Haskell's lazy evaluation, and aggressive optimizations specifically tailored for WebAssembly. Unique to this project, Asterius leverages the versatility of GHC, the Glasgow Haskell Compiler, using its internal representation as a starting point and targeting WebAssembly. Several use cases of Asterius include compiling existing Haskell projects to runnable WebAssembly binaries and generating a JavaScript module for a package written in Haskell.

Technology Stack:

Asterius extensively uses Haskell, a functional programming language known for its strong static typing, and GHC. Additionally, WebAssembly, a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine, plays a vital role in this project. WebAssembly provides excellent binary compatibility across diverse types of machine architectures, enhancing the versatility and portability of Haskell code. In accomplishing its aims, Asterius also incorporates other Haskell libraries, such as binaryen, for low-level manipulation of WebAssembly code.

Project Structure and Architecture:

The Asterius project is compartmentalized into a variety of components, including a runtime system, garbage collector, linker, and several utilities and scripts. The architecture resulting from these components facilitates a robust and efficient compilation pipeline from Haskell's internal representation to WebAssembly binary code. To navigate the complexity of Haskell's fringe features like lazy evaluation, the project incorporates garbage collection and other components.

Contribution Guidelines: