[austincheney]

Java is a language. It comes with a standard VM, compile mechanism, and bytecode. Fortunately, the Java platform is well segmented so that the language is a separate technology from those other pieces. Scala, for example, is a language different from Java, but still targets the compile mechanism and JVM.

WebAssembly, by contrast, is not a language. It is only a bytecode and conforming container. Java could compile to WebAssembly instead of its standard bytecode and the biggest difference is execution environment. In order for WebAssembly to displace the JVM it would have to run where the JVM can run with appropriate levels of support.

[sulizilxia]

I was a little unclear about this, but I meant Java in the broad sense of the Java ecosystem, including the JVM and the language. I was mostly wondering if languages will move toward WebAssembly as a target instead of the JVM, and what consequences that will have.

On the other hand, maybe I had Java the language in mind unconsciously at some level. You're right that you could have Java targeting WebAssembly instead of its standard bytecode, which I hadn't thought about.

At least now, it seems like the JVM offers some stuff that WebAssembly doesn't, but I have a hunch it won't stay that way in the long run.

There's been a lot of good discussion here about WebAssembly versus the JVM; it seems like lots of people have similar thoughts about this topic.