Is WebAssembly the Return of Java Applets and Flash?
In a way yes.  However there is other tech like WebGL, Canvas, web audio, web video etc, even apps, that make up good portions of what Flash brought, where WebAssembly is the compilation part of that and brings other languages into the mix as the source for the outputted wasm&#x2F;asm. It also brings faster native runtime and hardware rendering capabilities when combined with other tech. Flash and Java never had native nor good hardware rendering support, the latter which was what ultimately killed Flash and the transition to mobile.<p>Flash (and Shockwave director the first web 3d platform) actually were Java applets when they first came out then they switched to ActiveX plugins which really did have a good run of innovation on the web. Microsoft jumped on that to push ActiveX and Flash timing was just right as Microsoft was doing everything possible to kill off Java applets in as well as other platforms like Quicktime and Real Player.<p>We owe lots of web interactivity to plugins and mostly Flash.  I think with Chrome killing plugins there is a slight gap in platforms like Flash that push innovation, Java Applets never really took hold and were hampered by Microsoft as well as being slow. Microsoft even tried to make their own Flash in Liquid Motion in late 90s and again in 2005ish with Silverlight, just before mobile took off which changed everything.  Mobile killed off plugins as much as Chrome did.<p>Flash did lots of good things well or the best.  Vector animation is one, SVG is pretty good now but Flash was still better.  Flash for gaming and video was the best on the web for a long time. Flash was great for hitting web services&#x2F;remoting before AJAX was as solid. Flash pushed using JSON data over XML though it could do both before javascript well. Flash was the original web sockets. Flash revolutionized interactivity, games and video. Flash made Youtube possible. Flash had display list and DisplayObjects that were like an early virtual dom. Flash was a market standard that the main goal was pushing interactivity forward and needed to to survive, Java applets did not keep up and it is harder to do with standards as they are slow.<p>WebAssembly may be another Flash&#x2F;Java Applet go round but plugins and now wasm can help push things forward as plugins did for many years. wasm may help that missing piece on mobile since it is just javascript in the end.<p>Flash was a great interactive platform when under Macromedia and some under Adobe but Macromedia was really better at managing the development&#x2F;technology platform that it was. Microsoft was going to buy them once before Adobe got them. Adobe let Flash languish a bit and they lost the hold.<p>Flash is actually partly responsible for pushing web standards forward in html5, video, webGL, canvas, SVG even JSON and AJAX because they were all innovated on in Flash then brought to the browser. Flash with ActionScript3 even pushed forward javascript ECMA standards. AS3 was based on ES4 which Microsoft, Yahoo and others teamed up to kill, I think it was a solid ECMA version and quite fun and very readable and much like TypeScript [1].<p>I am a bit sad Flash is gone and wasn&#x27;t looked after correctly by Adobe, if Macromedia stayed around it may have gone different and WASM would be Flash. However Flash ended up stuck in software rendering land for too long and buggy with security holes that didn&#x27;t keep up on desktop nor was it ready for mobile. Adobe essentially sent both Director and Flash out to pasture (and Freehand&#x2F;Fireworks which were good), but we still need something pushing innovation and standards are slow to do that, apps have somewhat become that in place of plugins like Flash today and wasm may help.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;javascript&#x2F;comments&#x2F;34ps9z&#x2F;why_was_es_4_skipped_but_typescript_is_taking_all&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;javascript&#x2F;comments&#x2F;34ps9z&#x2F;why_was_...</a>