Squared: Write once, Rust anywhere
This is a README FROM THE FUTURE, in that it described the workflow for something that doesn't exist yet.
Squared is a project for authoring pure-Rust libraries that can be integrated into any language on any operating system or environment. Squared can help you...
- publish a cross-language API for accessing your cloud service;
- squared currently supports Java/Kotlin, Python, JavaScript, C, C++, and Go, but adding new languages is easy.
- package up common code for use across mobile devices.
Want to see how easy squared can be? Check out our tutorial.
Pick your poison
squared can be used in three modes:
| Mode | Performance | Sandboxing | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw FFI | 😎 Native | ⚠️ No | Portable binary artifact |
| Sandboxed FFI using rlbox.dev | Good | ✅ Yes! | Portable binary artifact |
| WebAssembly component | Good | ✅ Yes! | WASM module running anywhere, including the web |
Here are the key differences between the modes
- Raw FFI -- compiles Rust to native code and packages the library as a binary artifact with cosmopolitan. This offers the best performance, particularly for libraries that make good use of SIMD, but (a) means that you have to distribute a binary artifact, which can be a hassle; and (b) does not offer allow the library to be sandboxed.
- Sandboxed FFI -- compiles Rust to WebAssembly and then uses rlbox.dev to compile that to native code. Indirecting through WebAssembly costs some performance (typically around 10%) but gives the benefit of sandboxing. This means that the Rust code can be treated as untrusted by the host application.
- WebAssembly component -- compiles Rust to WebAssembly. This comes with a slight performance hit but offers sandboxing and means that you can distribute one binary that runs everywhere (including in browsers!).