Inline WASM in @nucypher/nucypher-core NPM package

[piotr-roslaniec]

Type of PR:

• Feature
• Other

Required reviews:

• 2

What this does:

• Add a rollup based NPM package bundler in the ./nucypher-core-wasm-bundler directory
• Configures WASM inlining for the @nucypher/nucypher-core package. Now, said package can be used without a WASM-aware bundler.

Issues fixed/closed:

• Related: Improve DX when working with WASM dependencies taco-web#299
• Created Implement a "slim" WASM packaging for nucypher-core #85

Why it's needed:

• Simplifies consuming @nucypher/nucypher-core

Notes for reviewers:

• This is a breaking change for @nucypher/nucypher-core users who relied on the previous packaging and WASM module instantiating methods.
• The contents of ./nucypher-core-wasm-bundler could end up in the ./nucypher-core-wasm directory, however, I think the current packaging setup in ./nucypher-core-wasm is worth preserving. We could either document the two distinct approaches or merge them. TBD.
• There is a trade-off when using this inlining technique - The base64-encoded WASM is about 34% larger than in the binary form. We can address it in the future by exposing a "slim" build variant of this library using package.json exports. Similarly, we could offer a node-friendly "slim" build. See rollup.config.js for details. However, these two changes require further research that I can't afford now. I opted to ship these changes earlier at a cost of less flexibility for our users.

[codecov-commenter]

Codecov Report

Merging #83 (f96a30f) into main (d49e98a) will not change coverage.
Report is 2 commits behind head on main.
The diff coverage is n/a.

@@           Coverage Diff           @@
##             main      #83   +/-   ##
=======================================
  Coverage   23.45%   23.45%           
=======================================
  Files          18       18           
  Lines        3521     3521           
=======================================
  Hits          826      826           
  Misses       2695     2695           

[manumonti]

LGTM! 🙌

I think this is a great progress to have a more user-friendly environment to be used by adopters.

[manumonti]

The contents of ./nucypher-core-wasm-bundler could end up in the ./nucypher-core-wasm directory, however, I think the current packaging setup in ./nucypher-core-wasm is worth preserving. We could either document the two distinct approaches or merge them. TBD.

Some thoughts fwiw:

What could be the cost of keeping the two approaches? Does it involve duplicate work when updating the WASM packages?

If you ask me, my opinion is that is better to keep it simple with only one approach. But I’m not sure about the implications of deprecating the current approach for current adopters.

[piotr-roslaniec]

@manumonti

What could be the cost of keeping the two approaches? Does it involve duplicate work when updating the WASM packages?

We would only use the new approach when publishing an npm package. We could keep the "legacy" approach as a reference for someone wanting to build a non-inlined package.

[derekpierre]

This is a breaking change for @nucypher/nucypher-core users who relied on the previous packaging and WASM module instantiating methods.

How much work would it take someone you used the previous packaging process, to use this updated one? Is it relatively simple once the steps are known? New tooling? Should this process (migration from prior packaging) be documented alongside fresh (only this new) usage?

[piotr-roslaniec]

How much work would it take someone you used the previous packaging process, to use this updated one? Is it relatively simple once the steps are known? New tooling?

It only requires calling await initialize() instead of using a bundler.

Should this process (migration from prior packaging) be documented alongside fresh (only this new) usage?

We can document it in a changelog. @nucypher/nucypher-core is an intermediate dependency with no known external users so I don't think this is going to be an issue.

[piotr-roslaniec]

I found an issue caused by the changes in this PR: test runners (like jest) have issues calling the initialize method. I will address it in this PR.

[piotr-roslaniec]

Because of the inlining the size of @nucypher/nucypher-core increased by roughly ~33%.

https://bundlephobia.com/scan-results?packages=@nucypher/nucypher-core@0.13.0-alpha.1

[jMyles]

We can document it in a changelog. @nucypher/nucypher-core is an intermediate dependency with no known external users so I don't think this is going to be an issue.

Moreover, it makes sense for this to be our public stance in general with regard to this repo (and perhaps to finally examine whether we want to call it 'core' rather than something like 'nucypher-base').

[cygnusv]

🚀