RadixRunner WASM

A WebAssembly-based mixed-radix clock implementation using SharedArrayBuffer for shared memory between the main thread and Web Workers.

Prerequisites

• Rust (install from https://rustup.rs/)
• Python 3 (for running the local server) OR Node.js (alternative)
• A modern browser that supports SharedArrayBuffer (Chrome, Edge, Firefox)

Building on Windows

1. Install Rust (if not already installed):

   # Visit https://rustup.rs/ or run:
   # winget install Rustlang.Rustup

2. Build the WASM module:

   .\scripts\build.ps1

   This will:

   • Install the wasm32-unknown-unknown target if needed
   • Build the WASM module in release mode
   • Copy the output to pkg/radixrunner_bg.wasm

Running in Browser

1. Start the local server:

   .\scripts\run.ps1

   This starts a Python HTTP server on http://localhost:8080 with the required headers for SharedArrayBuffer.

2. Open your browser:

   • Navigate to http://localhost:8080
   • The page should display a real-time clock with multiple precision levels (P0-P5)

Alternative: Using Node.js http-server

If you don't have Python, you can use Node.js:

npx http-server . -p 8080 --cors -c-1 --headers '{"Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy":"same-origin","Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy":"require-corp"}'

Important Notes

• SharedArrayBuffer requires specific HTTP headers: The server must send Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin and Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy: require-corp headers. Opening the HTML file directly (file://) will NOT work.

• Browser compatibility: SharedArrayBuffer is supported in:

  • Chrome/Edge 92+
  • Firefox 79+
  • Safari 15.2+

Project Structure

• src/ - Rust source code
• pkg/ - Built WASM output (created by build script)
• index.html - Main HTML page
• main.js - Main JavaScript that sets up shared memory
• tick_worker.js - Web Worker that runs the WASM tick loop

Troubleshooting

• "Failed to fetch radixrunner_bg.wasm": Make sure you've run the build script first
• "SharedArrayBuffer is not defined": Make sure you're accessing via HTTP/HTTPS, not file://
• Build errors: Ensure Rust is installed and wasm32-unknown-unknown target is available