## 4 Tools for WebAssembly Development
### WASM Versus WASI Versus WASI Versus WASI  
Wasm, WASI, and WAGI are three important technologies that contribute to the advancement of Wasm and its applications in web and system development. This section delves deeper into each of these technologies and explores their unique characteristics and contexts. Table 7 presents a comparison of WASM, WASI, and WAGI. * Purpose: Wasm is designed to deliver high-performance code execution in web browsers and other environments. It aims to bridge the gap between high-level programming languages and the performance available with lower-level languages, allowing developers to run computationally intensive tasks on the web. * Use Cases: Wasm finds applications in various areas, including web applications that require near-native performance, porting existing applications to the web, gaming, multimedia, virtual reality, and augmented reality. * Performance: Wasm offers excellent performance due to its compact binary format, which allows for efficient parsing and execution. * Language-Agnostic: Wasm supports multiple programming languages, enabling developers to write code in their preferred language and compile it to Wasm. * Portability: Wasm is designed to be platform-independent, enabling code to run consistently across different systems and devices. * Web Ecosystem Integration: Wasm integrates seamlessly with the web platform, allowing access to web APIs and facilitating interactions with JavaScript. * Limited System Access: Wasm operates within a sandboxed environment, providing security by restricting direct access to system resources. * Lack of Standardized System Interface: Wasm does not define a standard system interface, which limits its direct interaction with the underlying operating system. * Purpose: WASI extends the capabilities of Wasm by providing a standardized system interface [47; 48]. It enables Wasm modules to interact with the host operating system in a secure and platform-agnostic manner. * Use Cases: WASI is particularly useful for system-level programming within the Wasm environment, where access to system resources such as file I/O, network communication, and system libraries is required. * Standardized System Interface: WASI defines a set of system calls and APIs that facilitate interactions with the host operating system in a consistent and portable manner. * Sandboxed Environment: WASI ensures secure and isolated execution of Wasm modules by enforcing restrictions on system-level interactions. * Portability: WASI enables Wasm modules to run on different platforms without modification, as it abstracts the underlying host operating system. * Compatibility: WASI allows developers to write code that can be executed on various WASI-compliant runtimes and environments. * Restricted System Access: Although WASI provides a standardized system interface, it imposes certain restrictions to maintain security and prevent unauthorized access to system resources. * Limited to Wasm Execution Environment: WASI is primarily focused on providing system-level interactions within the Wasm execution environment and does not extend to other technologies or platforms. * Purpose: WAGI is a specification that defines a standard interface for running Wasm modules as HTTP serverless functions [49; 50]. It simplifies the deployment and scaling of serverless applications by leveraging the versatility of Wasm modules. * Use Cases: WAGI is particularly useful for building lightweight serverless applications, microservices, and APIs using Wasm modules. * Serverless Architecture: WAGI leverages the serverless paradigm, allowing developers to focus on writing business logic in Wasm modules while abstracting away server management and scalability concerns. * Language-Agnostic: WAGI supports serverless functions written in different programming languages that can be compiled to Wasm, providing flexibility for developers.