Emscripten is a source-to-source compiler that takes C/C++ code and compiles it to browser-runnable JavaScript code. It works by first compiling the C/C++ code to LLVM IR code using clang/clang++, then using a LLVM backend called Fastcomp to generate the JavaScript output. The compiled code can then be run directly in the browser. Emscripten allows running large web applications, developing for multiple platforms, and porting performance critical libraries to the web. It enables debugging of compiled code directly in the browser developer tools.