Hacker News Reader

Comment by jw1224 | Hacker News Reader

The “edge” in this case is the browser (from a pure WASM standpoint, though I see these guys also offer a hosted serverless version too).

For most general-purpose applications, there’s no point to WASM. But some apps may run specific functions which take a long time (e.g. bulk/batch processing), and being able to execute those tasks securely on the client side provides immediate feedback and better UX.

That’s just one use case. Another is that WASM makes PHP portable, in the sense it can run in any web browser without the need for a back-end server. Lots of potential opportunities for distributing software which runs completely locally.

View on HN

I don't think edge in this case mean browser. I think edge in this case is more similar to a CDN node.

Yes, the browser is where you land when you fall off the edge :)

Thank you for explaining. As a Web dev, who's using PHP since version 4, I'm still very confused why someone would consider running a CMS like WordPress on the client side, or at the "edge". I guess the good thing here is that someone spends (a lot of) energy in giving PHP new ways to get used by developers.

This is what is referred to by "edge": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_computing

The edge within this context means running a server close, in terms of Internet latency, to users. For example, if a user if sending a request from Germany, then the response should come from a server running in say Frankfurt, not the US. There are now many providers that allow devels to deploy services at many different locations at once, and to ensure that client requests are routed to the closest available location. An understandable source of confusion is that wasm comes from the browser world, but it's also possible to run it as standalone (no browser) server code.

Also not to be confused with the term edge within the context of IoT/embedded, where the edge is devices running at the very edge of the Internet, e.g., factory floors, trucks, etc.

The browser is not the "edge". The browser is the browser. Running WordPress in the browser makes exactly zero sense. Only exception if you are running a test instance.

https://wordpress.org/playground/

Reply on news.ycombinator.com