Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Cosmonic touts life-cycle management in WebAssembly PaaS

news
Sep 6, 20232 mins

The platform was built on wasmCloud for multifaceted app deployment for the cloud, browser, edge, and other platforms.

sky space dark galaxy universe constellation cosmos astronomy
Credit: WikiImages

Cosmonic, which provides a PaaS (platform as a service) for multicomponent WebAssembly (Wasm) applications, has built out its PaaS with capabilities ranging from life-cycle management to a registry, with a series of enhancements being rolled out on September 6. The PaaS now offers:

  • Application life-cycle management via Wadm (wasmCloud Application Deployment Manager)
  • App View, a UI for managing declarative applications via Wasm
  • Custom names for HTTPS endpoints
  • A managed globally resilient registry

The features enable developers to more quickly build applications for more locations via Wasm. Cosmonic can be launched from the company website.

Cosmonic’s PaaS was built on wasmCloud, a CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation) project. With wasmCloud, developers gain a runtime to deploy applications in the cloud, in the browser, at the edge, on small devices, or elsewhere. It leverages WebAssembly actors and providers. Wadm is available in the Cosmonic PaaS and offers declarative state application management for the cloud, providing a familiar way to manage cloud-native applications by using the Open Application Model (OAM). A few lines of YAML or JSON can spread an application from a laptop to a multicloud deployment.

With Cosmonic’s App View, also called Wasm Application Manager, the company is introducing a UI to manage applications via Wasm. The UI interfaces with Wadm applications defined using OAM. The view includes an in-UI YAML editor and YAML validation. Developers also can preview planned deployments and roll back to older versions. Cosmonic Managed Registry, meanwhile, provides allocated storage for development components, controlled with Cosmonic credentials. This eliminates any requirement to configure a bespoke registry. Personalized HTTPS endpoints or wormholes provide a way for developers to customize wormhole domains. A wormhole is a mechanism for controlling secure traffic.

Cosmonic said its enhancements arrived in the wake of WASI-Preview 2 (WebAssembly System Interface) reaching minimum viable product status and WebAssembly Component Model nearing completion. Cosmonic PaaS and wasmCloud provide platforms where developers can build on the component model that underpins WASI-Preview 2.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

More from this author