easy-inline-wasm

This repository contains a minimal workflow that lets you use Rust-compiled WebAssembly inside a TypeScript project almost like WGSL — by writing Rust code as a string, compiling it on demand via a local Node.js server, and loading it dynamically on the client.

The goal is to keep WASM usage simple, stable and static-function-like, without exposing JS classes, descriptors or complex bindings.

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🚀 How it works

• You write Rust code as a string inside a TypeScript file.
• The client requests a WASM module using WASM.get().
• A small Node.js server receives the request and:
  • checks if a WASM binary already exists
  • or instantly recompiles the Rust source (wasm32-unknown-unknown)
• The server writes the compiled .wasm file into the client’s public/ folder.
• The client then loads and uses the module’s exported functions.

This gives a workflow where Rust feels like a collection of static functions with raw pointers and numbers — no accidental JS allocations or hidden complexity.

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🧪 Example usage

const source = `
#[no_mangle]
pub extern "C" fn incr_buffer(ptr: *mut f32, len: usize) {
    let slice = unsafe { std::slice::from_raw_parts_mut(ptr, len) };
    for v in slice.iter_mut() { *v += 1.0; }
}
`;

const wasm = await WASM.get("test", source);
const arr = new Float32Array(wasm.buffer, 0, 4);

console.log(arr);            // 0, 0, 0, 0
wasm.incr_buffer(0, 4);
console.log(arr);            // 1, 1, 1, 1

📁 Project structure

/
├── server.js        # Node.js on-demand compiler
├── wasm/            # Temporary Rust source & build files
└── client/
    ├── public/      # Compiled .wasm files appear here
    ├── src/
    └── ...

📦 Installation

Clone the repo and install root dependencies:

npm install

Install client dependencies:

cd client
npm install

🖥️ Run the Node.js compiler server

From the root folder:

npm run start

This starts the on-demand Rust → WASM compilation server.

🌐 Run the client (Vite)

In another terminal:

cd client
npm run dev

This starts the client app and automatically reloads whenever a .wasm file is (re)generated.

📝 Notes

• Compilation is practically instant for small Rust snippets.
• Ideal for experiments or prototyping low-level logic.
• The WASM API is intentionally minimal: no objects, no classes, only numeric parameters and raw memory.

📜 License

MIT — feel free to explore, fork, and adapt.