Tag Archives: Product Engineering

26 Dec

WebAssembly – A Revolution in Web Development

Posted on December 26, 2024January 10, 2025

What is WebAssembly?

WebAssembly is a binary instruction format that allows code written in multiple languages, such as C, C++, Rust, and Go, to run on web browsers at near-native speeds. It was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and is designed to complement JavaScript, not replace it, offering developers a tool to create high-performance web applications.

At its core, WebAssembly is a portable compilation target. This means developers can write code in their preferred language, compile it into WebAssembly, and execute it on any platform that supports the WebAssembly runtime - including all major web browsers, standalone runtimes, and server environments.

The Architecture of WebAssembly

  1. Binary Format: WebAssembly code is compiled into a compact binary format that is smaller and faster to parse than traditional text-based formats like JavaScript. 
  2. Module Structure: A WebAssembly module is a self-contained package that includes code and associated metadata. Modules can be loaded and executed in any environment supporting Wasm. 
  3. Stack-Based Virtual Machine: WebAssembly uses a stack-based virtual machine, where instructions are executed in a strict sequence, ensuring predictable performance and behavior. 
  4. Web APIs Integration: WebAssembly can call and be called by JavaScript, enabling smooth integration with existing web APIs and frameworks. 
  5. Secure Sandbox: All WebAssembly code runs in a sandboxed environment, ensuring isolation from the host system and preventing unauthorized access to sensitive resources. 

Challenges and Limitations

Learning
Curve

Debugging Complexity

Ecosystem
Maturity

Real-World Use Cases for WebAssembly

In Products

  1. Adobe Photoshop on the Web: This allows users to access powerful tools without installing software locally. 
  2. Autodesk AutoCAD Web App: To perform complex rendering and design tasks directly in the browser, offering a seamless experience comparable to desktop versions. 
  3. Figma: To ensure smooth performance for real-time collaboration and rendering of complex design elements. 
  4. Emscripten Ports: Many legacy applications have been ported to the web using Emscripten, a toolchain that compiles C and C++ to WebAssembly. 

In Web3

WebAssembly is playing a pivotal role in the Web3 ecosystem, where decentralized applications (dApps) and Blockchain technologies demand high performance and cross-platform compatibility. 

  1. Smart Contract Execution: Platforms like Polkadot and EOSIO use WebAssembly as the execution environment for smart contracts. 
  2. Blockchain Interoperability: WebAssembly allows developers to write chain-agnostic code that can run across multiple blockchain platforms, fostering interoperability within the Web3 ecosystem. 

Universal Applications

  1. Cross-Platform Games: Game engines like Unity and Unreal Engine use WebAssembly to deliver high-performance games directly in the browser.  
  2. IoT Dashboards: WebAssembly’s portability makes it ideal for IoT applications, where dashboards and control systems must work seamlessly across diverse devices and operating systems. 
  3. Cloud-Native Applications: By using WebAssembly in serverless environments, developers can write applications that run on any cloud provider, reducing vendor lock-in and increasing scalability. 

The Future of WebAssembly

WebAssembly is poised to expand its influence in both web and non-web environments. Innovations such as garbage collection, SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data), and multithreading support are making it more powerful. Furthermore, its adoption in Web3, serverless computing, and universal application development underscores its potential to become a cornerstone of modern software development.

As WebAssembly continues to evolve, its ability to bring high-performance, cross-platform, and secure applications to the forefront will redefine how we think about the web and beyond.
03 Jul

The importance of effective product engineering strategy

Posted on July 3, 2024January 10, 2025
Effective product engineering strategy is crucial for businesses for several reasons. It enables the development of products that outperform competitors and responds quickly to market demands.

Digital Product Engineering can be briefly staged in four major phases on product journey.

Think

It is very essential to define core pain areas which the product is trying to resolve. Research to get to know whom you are designing for, what are the users trying to achieve, what are pain points and how to fix it. Direct interaction with users, surveys & complains of competitors are key methods to find out pain areas. This phase usually ends up with pile of problems, struggling areas & challenges faced by users. One can easily create ultra large problem definition out of it. Next, it is to churn data of inputs to figure out the most obvious & generic problems faced by all users. Thus, removing all clutters & moving inch closer to achieve Minimum Viable Product definition. Next, it is to prepare rough draft of MVP. Up next, UX prototype gets ready. This has user journey through the system. Many times, a complete set of wireframes can be designed.

Execute

Execution starts with building POC. A Proof of Concept (POC) is a small exercise to test the product idea. The aim behind POC is to show the functionality and to verify that the proposed solution can be achieved with technology. Technology stack plays a key role at every stage of product development. In early days, the primary goal is to be launch the MVP as quickly as possible. Any language/framework that helps put together a working prototype in the shortest possible time should be a good fit. Next is to test the MVP. There are multiple ways testing can be approached. It usually starts with testing of concept as a whole and later details in to the testing of features, user flow & visual design. At this moment, the product is ready for the launch.

Sustain

Once the product is accepted by targeted users, the especially important phase of sustainability starts. There are many paradigms of sustainability. One way is to continuously optimize technical implementation to keep product performance with ever-increasing number of users. It can be shorter response times, improved UX, getting technical architecture in place or an efficient data access engine. With many users comes many feature requests. It is very apt to completely test out the product with every build release. These tests are known as regressions and usually needs to be automated with no-code or code-less testing frameworks. This phase is for infinite duration. One must have sustainability strategy to keep product ever ready to meet market demands. Lastly, many teams invest efforts to set up fantastic customer happiness teams. This team becomes customer advocate within product teams.

Invent

Product need to reinvent itself every few years to stay competitive, which results in different types of modernization. These activities typically involve adding new features, re-architecting the product for better technology offering and cloud enablement. Upgrading the user interface and mobile experience can be undertaken as product modernization activity. Early adopting Big Data and Machine Learning algorithms to get data-driven, actionable business insights. Analyzing historical data to make right predictions about the future can help the product to stay ahead of competitors.
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