The answer was kind of known before hand. It was to enable the use of GCed languages like Python on Ruby to create WASM applications. Meanwhile, non-GCed languages like Rust, C and C++ were supposed to continue to work as before on WASM without breaking compatibility. This is what they seem to have finally achieved. But I needed to make sure of it. So, here are the relevant points from the WASM GC proposal [1]:
* Motivation
- Efficient support for high-level languages
- faster execution
- smaller modules
- the vast majority of modern languages need it
* Approach
- Pay as you go; in particular, no effect on code not using GC, no runtime type information unless requested
- Don't introduce dependencies on GC for other features (e.g., using resources through tables)
Note that the high level language needs a sufficient abstraction in its own runtime to allow substituting the Wasm GC for the runtime’s own GC. Work has been done for Java and Kotlin, but Python, C#, Ruby, Go can’t yet use the Wasm GC.
Agreed. That's what I guessed too. WASM GC is probably a low level component which high level languages can wrap to get their native/idiomatic GC behavior.
> Work has been done for Java and Kotlin
I'm unaware of this development. What did they do? Did they create an interface to the GC specification in the draft proposal?
