[HN Gopher] The WebRacket language is a subset of Racket that co...
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The WebRacket language is a subset of Racket that compiles to
WebAssembly
Author : mfru
Score : 67 points
Date : 2026-01-17 21:23 UTC (4 days ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| dfajgljsldkjag wrote:
| It is interesting to see another language target WebAssembly
| especially one like Racket. The fact that it compiles to a subset
| of the language limits its utility right now. I think it is a
| neat proof of concept but it needs full language support.
| d_philla wrote:
| check out grain! https://grain-lang.org/
| volemo wrote:
| As far as I know compiling full Racket to WASM is impossible
| because of continuations.
| gcr wrote:
| For folks curious about the supported language subset, here's a
| summary:
|
| - Modules aren't implemented yet, but are high on the list
|
| - Continuation-based control flow isn't supported yet,
| including break and promises. Tail calls are supported though.
|
| - No support for complex numbers, bignums, weak hashtables,
| immutable hashtables, prefab structs, regexp, or file I/O
| support
|
| Most of the rest of racket/base should work, according to the
| README. There's also a FFI for javascript, including bindings
| for Math, DOM, Canvas, MathJax, XTermJS, and JSXGraph. Overall
| feels like you can use most of the language right now unless
| you need odd Racket-isms or call/cc.
| noelwelsh wrote:
| I love this. Racket is the future we were promised.
| neilv wrote:
| Speaking of prolific Racketeers... Noel! Just an hour ago, on a
| walk, I was thinking, "I should work through that one LLM book,
| and implement it in Racket." (But have started job-hunting, so
| will probably be Python.)
| titzer wrote:
| I noticed the --expose-gc. Does this mean it's using the (now
| standardized) Wasm GC feature?
| apitman wrote:
| Hoot is another interesting one: https://spritely.institute/hoot/
| gcr wrote:
| Is there any shared lineage between this and Whalesong, a
| previous Racket->JS compiler?
|
| Of course both projects have the same maintainer if I recall,
| Jens Axel Sogaard is a rockstar :)
| neilv wrote:
| Jens Axel Sogaard is cool and involved in many things. We
| collaborated on SICP support.
|
| Original developer of Whalesong was Danny Yoo.
| https://www.hashcollision.org/whalesong/
|
| There was also this: https://docs.racket-lang.org/racketscript/
|
| Dave Herman worked on various JS-related libraries for Racket
| (or PLT Scheme) before he was involved with Rust.
| gcr wrote:
| ah that's right! apologies
| publicdebates wrote:
| I read the WASM spec and became somewhat of an expert in it for
| the purpose of eventually designing a low-level language
| _specifically for_ wasm, to be the most efficient and lowest-
| level language you could possibly have for wasm, and then
| gradually add high level concepts into it to make it more
| convenient. Kind of like building C on top of asm, and then
| gradually evolving it into C++. That project never came about
| though due to lack of community interest and time on my part, but
| I like seeing languages that take a fresh look at how to
| integrate with wasm using novel techniques to aim for maximal
| efficiency.
| KarenDaBass wrote:
| Is a (Web)Racket engineer a racketeer?
| gcr wrote:
| They're certainly a schemer. :-)
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(page generated 2026-01-21 23:00 UTC)