WebAssembly support not easy to find

[RobertoMalatesta]

• Version: 9.0.0, 9.0.1, 8.3.0
• Platform: Kubuntu 14.04, CentOS Linux release 7.2.1511 (Core)
• Subsystem: (node versions managed by n package)

node -v
v9.0.0
node
> WebAssembly
{}

node --expose-wasm 
> WebAssembly
{}

=========
[as root] n latest
=========

node -v
v9.1.0

node
> WebAssembly
{}
> 

node --expose-wasm 
> WebAssembly
{}

========
on CentOS:
========

 node -v
v8.3.0
[---]$  node
> WebAssembly
{}
> [---]$  node --expose-wasm
> WebAssembly
{}

Thanks for your time,

--Rob

[addaleax]

Hi, thanks for the issue!

Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but WebAssembly support is there in Node 8 & 9, with or without the flag.

All the functions are there:

$ node
> process.version
'v9.0.0'
> WebAssembly.compile
[Function: compile]

So I guess the real issue here is that WebAssembly is displayed as {} in the console?

[RobertoMalatesta]

Yep @addaleax .

WebAssembly (formerly wasm) should show its available API, IMHO.

Just like i.e. console:

console
Console {
  log: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  info: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  warn: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  error: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  dir: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  time: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  timeEnd: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  trace: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  assert: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  clear: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  count: [Function: bound consoleCall],
  countReset: [Function: bound countReset],
  Console: [Function: Console],
  debug: [Function: debug],
  dirxml: [Function: dirxml],
  table: [Function: table],
  group: [Function: group],
  groupCollapsed: [Function: groupCollapsed],
  groupEnd: [Function: groupEnd],
  markTimeline: [Function: markTimeline],
  profile: [Function: profile],
  profileEnd: [Function: profileEnd],
  timeline: [Function: timeline],
  timelineEnd: [Function: timelineEnd],
  timeStamp: [Function: timeStamp],
  [Symbol(counts)]: Map {} }

--R

[addaleax]

I think a good solution would be to solve this by taking @@toStringTag into account as a fallback when computing the constructor name in util.inspect. That’s kind of easy to do, so I’m labeling this as a good first issue if anybody wants to grab it.

[apapirovski]

Is this actually incorrect? It matches what all the browsers do... Chrome is the only one that shows the internals but they're faded like private properties are usually.

[addaleax]

@apapirovski I think not displaying the methods is correct, yes. But I think there really should be output that distinguishes WebAssembly from a simple {}.

[apapirovski]

@addaleax but it matches browser consoles and that's generally been at least partially our goal.

[RobertoMalatesta]

I feel it as a lack of interactive documentation.

[addaleax]

@apapirovski I think the goal of util.inspect is to be as helpful as possible … if we can be more helpful than browsers I’ll take it. (And yes, helpful is very subjective. 😄)

[RobertoMalatesta]

WebAssembly examples online still use wasm and instantiateModule.
Having a JS object exposing its public methods is a good practice imho.

--R

[addaleax]

@RobertoMalatesta To be clear, what I’m suggesting is to switch to something like WebAssembly {} as the displayed output, because we generally stick with what the object says – if its properties are not enumerable, then we won’t show them in the console either by default.

The methods are all there, it’s really just a question of how to display the object in question.

[RobertoMalatesta]

Fine for me if there's an easy way to follow its API development (not only for me but for anyone interested).
util.inspect returns {} btw
So, where a user should see the info on WebAssembly module?
(it's not in oficial doc on main site)

Thanks for your work, (just trying to be of help).

--Roberto

[apapirovski]

I'm still not convinced we should be doing anything differently.

The WebAssembly object is the initial value of the WebAssembly property of the global object. Like the Math and JSON objects, the WebAssembly object is a plain JS object (not a constructor or function) that acts like a namespace and has the following properties:

https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/JS.md

It's a plain JS object with non-enumerable properties. It's not a class, constructor, whatever. Naming it as WebAssembly {} seems misleading.