WebKit

WebKit is a free HTML rendering engine with the help of Web pages are displayed in web browsers. WebKit is a further developed by the company Apple spin-off of KHTML and KJS JavaScript implementation, which forms the basis for the Mac OS X Safari web browser. It is now developed by Apple, Nokia, Google and others.

Although WebKit in Trolltech's Qt 4.4 is included, comes the foundation of KDE. The library consists of the components WebCore ( the body responsible for the HTML display library ) and the JavaScript parser JavaScriptCore. The complete source code is freely available and is partly under LGPL, partly under the BSD license.

• 2.1 WebKit
• 2.2 WebKit2

Components

WebCore

WebCore is a layout, DOM and rendering library for CSS and SVG, which was split off from KHTML. There is the Acid2 test and since September 2008 in the development versions as first HTML rendering engine and the Acid3 test, with exact pixel by pixel and liquid on reference hardware rendering.

JavaScriptCore

As a spin-off from KJS JavaScriptCore works as a ( source code ) interpreter. To accelerate the execution speed was initially developed to SquirrelFish that the JavaScript code before running into bytecode compiled ( bytecode interpreter ), and continue to SquirrelFish Extreme (abbreviated SFX), which to machine language compiled directly ( just- in-time compilation). SquirrelFish Extreme initially supported only x86 architectures, but since the end of January 2009, there is also available for AMD64.

Drosera

Drosera is a debugger for JavaScript code. He was named after the Latin name for the carnivorous sundew plant.

SunSpider

History

WebKit

WebKit arose from the HTML engine, KHTML and KJS JavaScript engine of the KDE project: Apple had created a spin-off of the engines and further developed them. Apple then needed a separate HTML and JavaScript engine for its software products and opted for KHTML and KJS its sister project, since the code as clear and structured was regarded as that of the former Mozilla project. Apple ported the sources of the KDE project on Mac OS X and renamed it into WebCore and JavaScriptCore.

2003, the project was officially made known and approved sources in accordance with the licenses of the KHTML and KJS - projects. Nevertheless pushed the mode of transmission and publication of the modified code on Criticism: The KDE developers threw Apple before, provide changes only in large, hard to looking packages; this makes a takeover of code difficult, resulting in the projects more and more distant from each other.

In June 2005, Dave Hyatt of Apple promised to open up the development process and provide all sources of WebKit in a CVS tree. Then Nokia announced a browser on this basis, and Adobe announced that the Adobe Integrated Runtime WebKit integral.

In September 2009, the developer began to integrate 3D features in WebKit. These are partly realized with the free JavaScript interface WebGL, which in turn builds on already developed functions of OpenGL.

Until April 2013, Google was involved in the development of WebKit. Since Google uses for its Chrome web browser to WebKit Fork flashing.

WebKit2

In April 2010 WebKit2 was presented. It is a designed from the ground up version, in which the rendering (including HTML, JavaScript, CSS ) in a different process runs as the user interface.

Use

WebKit is since version 10.3 part of the operating system Mac OS X. It is mainly used in the Safari browser, but also in the help function and in the HTML display in TextEdit and Mail.

Next (but with Midori in the variant WebKitGTK because Midori is written in C ) forms the basis for the WebKit browser Google Chrome, Yandex.Browser, SRWare Iron, OmniWeb, Shiira, iCab, Opera and Midori ( from 2013 ). With Google Chrome, Midori, Arora, Dooble and Safari there are now users of WebKit under Windows. Also the browser Lunascape, which relies on multiple rendering engines, can use WebKit. The third version of Maxthon browser uses it also. 2013 Opera wanted to switch to WebKit as a browser engine to catch up with Google Chrome and to save further development effort in Presto. However, after it was announced that Google will develop a fork of Webkit called Blink and use in Chrome, Opera itself decided to follow this decision and to set future to blink as a browser engine.

Even with the browsers of mobile devices WebKit plays a big role: ABrowse puts it in July 2007 for the operating system Syllable as a base instead of KHTML previously used a. The free smartphone operating system Openmoko and Android, Google's software project for mobile systems that use WebKit. Also, WebKit is an integral part of the mobile operating system HP webOS (formerly Palm) for smartphones and tablets, where it serves the representation of the user interface. In addition, iPhone / iPod touch / iPad from Apple and Nokia S60 series. In August 2010, RIM has announced the use of WebKit.

The French company Pleyo offers with its Origyn Web Browser ( OWB ) a WebKit -based browsers under BSD or LGPL license for consumer electronics (for example, mobile devices, set- top boxes ) as the Nokia N800 or on AmigaOS.

The HTML is performing programs of free Gnome desktop environment, among others, the standard browser Epiphany, are also converted to WebKit since version 2.28. Numerous GTK -based programs, some of which are also part of the GNOME project, are also converted.

Since KDE Software Compilation 4.5, it is possible to install WebKit from the extra -Gear - sources and select the default browser Konqueror as an alternative to KHTML. The newly written streamlined browser Rekonq builds directly on WebKit. The distribution Kubuntu Maverick Meerkat has been using 10:10 Rekonq as the default browser.

Since his major interface update 2010 uses the computer game distribution platform Steam WebKit HTML rendering engine.

The command line tool wkhtmltopdf uses WebKit for rendering HTML documents, then save them as a PDF file.