POSE: Phase I: Towards a WebAssembly Research Ecosystem

该项目由启用开放源码生态系统路径(POST)资助，旨在利用开放源码开发的力量，为国家和社会重大问题创造新的技术解决方案。WebAssembly(简称WASM)，是一种新的、可移植的Web编译目标，它引发了Web应用程序构建方式的革命。自2017年出现在主要浏览器中以来，WASM为Web平台带来了新的强大功能，并开始在边缘计算、物联网(IoT)环境和嵌入式系统中快速扩展。尽管有这种势头，但WASM研究界缺乏共享的基础设施。该项目确定了需要开源生态系统才能蓬勃发展的研究基础设施相关工具和构件的关键缺失部分，例如良好的基准。该项目的影响是以WASM研究为中心的开源生态系统，其更广泛的影响是加速WASM的开发和标准化，并增加该平台对研究人员的有用性。该项目的创新之处在于规划和开发了一个WASM研究中心，包括确定治理结构、发展合作伙伴关系和资金协议、为研究人员小组建立一个合作模式，以及确定生态系统维护的基础设施和工具的范围。这项建立WebAssembly开源生态系统的努力成功的关键是与研究人员和行业合作伙伴进行接触，以确定推进WASM研究状况所需工具和基准的范围和能力。这种推广的一个重要方面是与WASM全球网络联盟社区小组(CG)的定期联系，CG是一个运作良好的行业标准机构，成功地开发了标准和测试套件。该项目为CG补充了一套额外的生态系统，以支持WASM周围的研究。这项工作的具体更广泛的影响包括：提高应用程序的安全性和性能，通过机械化的验证提高软件保证，支持Solid Edge计算环境，通过附加功能推进Web平台，增加支持的语言的范围和多样性，以及填补虚拟机方面的人才和专业知识管道。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is funded by Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) which seeks to harness the power of open-source development for the creation of new technology solutions to problems of national and societal importance. WebAssembly (Wasm for short), is a new, portable compilation target for the Web that has sparked a revolution in how web applications are built. Since its appearance in major browsers in 2017, Wasm has brought a new, powerful capability to the Web platform and begun expanding rapidly in Edge computing, Internet of Things (IoT) contexts, and embedded systems. Despite this momentum, the Wasm research community lacks shared infrastructure. This project identifies key missing pieces of research infrastructure related tools and artifacts, such as good benchmarks, that need an open source ecosystem to flourish. The project’s impacts are an open source ecosystem centered around Wasm research with broader impacts of accelerating Wasm development and standardization and increasing the platform's usefulness to researchers. The project’s novelties lie in the planning and development of a Wasm Research Center, including determining of the governance structure, developing partnerships and funding agreements, establishing a collaborative model for groups of researchers, and scoping the infrastructure and tools that the ecosystem maintains.Key to the success of this effort to establish a WebAssembly open-source ecosystem is outreach to researchers and industry partners to determine the scope and capabilities of needed tools and benchmarks to advance the state of Wasm research. An important aspect of this outreach is regular contact with the Wasm Worldwide Web Consortium Community Group (CG), a functioning industrial standards body that has successfully developed the standard and test suite. This project supplements the CG with an additional set of ecosystems supporting research around Wasm. Specific broader impacts of this work include: improving the security and performance of applications, advancing software assurance through mechanized proofs, supporting a solid Edge Computing landscape, advancing the Web platform through additional features, increasing the range and diversity of supported languages, and filling the pipeline of talent and expertise in virtual machines.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.