Webkit

Webkit is a rendering engine for web pages that was created on the base of KHTML. It displays the pages of Apple's Safari browser, Chrome and Android from Google.

It is also used on Apple and Nokia mobiles. It replaced Gecko on the Epiphany browser for Gnome on Linux.

Based on an overly optimistic interpretation of a sentence of Ballmer, the rumor ran that Microsoft could use Webkit for some of its products, but this was later denied. The sentence was somewhat ambiguous:

"Open source is interesting. Apple has embraced Webkit and we may look at that, but we will continue to build extensions for IE 8." (Developer Conference at Sydney in November 2008.)

Webkit and KHTML

To create its new browser, the Apple company had ignored Gecko and preferred the KHTML runtime that displays the pages in the Konqueror browser under Linux.

Thereafter Apple launched in 2003 from the KHTML code, the Webkit project that became open source in 2005 or more precisely, becomes accessible to third-party applications.

Google launched its Chrome browser in 2008 using the Webkit code associated with a very fast JavaScript compiler. This started a race for JavaScript engines speed.

Alternatives

Rendering engines of other browsers are:

Tools

See also

Programming technologies Ajax - API - Cassandra - CLI - Cookie - Cover Flow - Dalvik - DFA - Flash - GUI - HTTP code - IDE - JavaFX - JNA - JSON - MySQL - NaCl - .NET - NoSQL - Protocol Buffers - Qt - REST - Servlet - Web 2.0 - WebGL - Webkit - WinRT - WYSIWYG
Programming technologies Ajax - API - Cassandra - CLI - Cookie - Cover Flow - Dalvik - DFA - Flash - GUI - HTTP code - IDE - JavaFX - JNA - JSON - MySQL - NaCl - .NET - NoSQL - Protocol Buffers - Qt - REST - Servlet - Web 2.0 - WebGL - Webkit - WinRT - WYSIWYG