Moonbit Version of Autonomi?

Development
1

I add this Topic, only to show the CN development effort in this area centered around improving WASM performance, versus Rust.

It might be a consideration at some point, once Moonbit reaches maturity, probably in about 2 to 3 years…

Moonbit vs Rust for WASM

Based on the provided search results, here are the differentiated capabilities of Moonbit compared to Rust when generating WASM binaries:

  1. Whole-program optimizations: Moonbit is engineered for whole-program optimizations on multi-level intermediate representations (IR), enabling comprehensive understanding of the program’s structure and more effective optimizations. This surpasses Rust’s link-time-optimization (LTO) structures. Moonbit’s approach allows for identification and removal of higher-level redundancies not visible at lower levels, resulting in smaller and faster WASM binaries.
  2. Function-level parallel semantic analysis: Moonbit’s AI-native language design enables function-level parallel semantic analysis, which is not available in Rust. This allows Moonbit to handle vast monorepos and deliver millisecond response times, significantly enhancing IDE scalability.
  3. Smaller WASM code generation: Moonbit generates WASM code that is comparable in performance to Rust but even smaller in size. This is attributed to Moonbit’s design being tailored to the WebAssembly semantics from the outset.
  4. Faster compilation: Moonbit’s compilation time is significantly faster than Rust’s, with reports of compilation times being one or two orders of magnitude faster. This is achieved through advanced static analysis and optimization techniques.
  5. Garbage collection: Moonbit ships with a garbage collector that uses reference counting (RC) similar to Swift’s approach. Moonbit’s state-of-the-art optimization techniques eliminate the overhead of reference counting at compile time, making it suitable for memory-heavy benchmarks and providing automatic memory management.
  6. Simplified syntax and tooling: Moonbit’s design philosophy is inspired by Go’s “less is more” approach, focusing on simplicity and investing more in tooling. This results in a more cohesive language with fewer syntax additions, making it easier to learn and use.

In summary, Moonbit’s differentiated capabilities for generating WASM binaries include:

  • Whole-program optimizations on multi-level IR
  • Function-level parallel semantic analysis
  • Smaller WASM code generation
  • Faster compilation
  • Garbage collection with optimized reference counting
  • Simplified syntax and tooling

These features enable Moonbit to provide a unique combination of performance, size, and development efficiency when generating WASM binaries, setting it apart from Rust.


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thenewstack.io
MoonBit: Wasm-Optimized Language Creates Less Code Than Rust - The New Stack

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reddit.com
r/programming on Reddit: Discover MoonBit: The fast, compact & user friendly language for WebAssembly

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moonbitlang.com
Moonbit: the fast, compact & user friendly language for WebAssembly | MoonBit

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pldb.io
A brief interview with Moonbit creator Hongbo Zhang

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Moonbit sounds great and kudo’s to the team behind it - but in 2 to 3 years, AI may be, or nearly be, at the level where it can convert any code into efficient WASM directly.

Don’t mean to rain on the idea though. We will see what happens.

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