WebKit

WebKit
Original author(s)Apple Inc.[1][2]
Developer(s)Apple Inc., Adobe Systems, Sony, KDE, Igalia, and others
Initial releaseNovember 4, 1998 (1998-11-04) (KHTML released)
June 7, 2005 (2005-06-07) (WebKit sourced)
Preview release
Nightly[3]
Repositorygithub.com/WebKit/WebKit
Written inC++[4]
Operating systemmacOS, iOS, Linux,[5] Microsoft Windows[6][7]
TypeBrowser engine
LicenseLGPLv2.1 (rendering engine, JavaScript engine), BSD 2-Clause (additional contributions from Apple)[8]
Websitewebkit.org

WebKit is a browser engine primarily used in Apple's Safari web browser, as well as all web browsers on iOS and iPadOS. WebKit is also used by the PlayStation consoles starting with the PS3, the Tizen mobile operating systems, the Amazon Kindle e-book reader, Nintendo consoles starting with the 3DS Internet Browser, and the discontinued BlackBerry Browser.

WebKit started as a fork of the KHTML and KJS libraries from KDE,[1][9] and has since been further developed by KDE contributors, Apple, Google, Nokia,[9] Bitstream, BlackBerry, Sony, Igalia, and others.[10] WebKit supports macOS, Windows, Linux, and various other Unix-like operating systems.[11] On April 3, 2013, Google announced that it had forked WebCore, a component of WebKit, to be used in future versions of Google Chrome and the Opera web browser, under the name Blink.[12][13]

Its JavaScript engine, JavascriptCore, also powers the Bun server-side JS runtime,[14] as opposed to V8 used by Node.js, Deno, and Blink. WebKit's C++ application programming interface (API) provides a set of classes to display Web content in windows, and implements browser features such as following links when clicked by the user, managing a back-forward list, and managing a history of pages recently visited.

WebKit is open source and available under the BSD 2-Clause license[15][8] with the exception of the WebCore and JavaScriptCore components, which are available under the GNU Lesser General Public License. As of March 7, 2013, WebKit is a trademark of Apple, registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.[16]

  1. ^ a b "'(fwd) Greetings from the Safari team at Apple Computer' – MARC". Lists.kde.org. January 7, 2003. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  2. ^ "Safari is released to the world". Donmelton.com. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  3. ^ "WebKit Nightly Builds". WebKit.org. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  4. ^ "Code Style Guidelines". WebKit.org. Apple, Inc. November 7, 2015. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  5. ^ "WebKit Download". March 30, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  6. ^ "WebKit on Windows | WebKit". WebKit.org. Apple, Inc. November 7, 2015. Archived from the original on August 8, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  7. ^ "BuildingCairoOnWindows – WebKit". trac.webkit.org. Apple, Inc. June 8, 2021. Archived from the original on August 8, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Licensing WebKit | WebKit
  9. ^ a b "The WebKit Open Source Project". Archived from the original on April 10, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  10. ^ Stachowiak, Maciej (November 9, 2008). "Companies and Organizations that have contributed to WebKit". WebKit Wiki. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
  11. ^ "The WebKit Open Source Project – Getting the Code". Webkit.org. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  12. ^ Barth, Adam (April 3, 2013). "Chromium Blog: Blink: A rendering engine for the Chromium project". Blog.chromium.org. Archived from the original on April 4, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  13. ^ Lawson, Bruce (April 3, 2013). "Bruce Lawson's personal site: Hello Blink". Brucelawson.co.uk. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  14. ^ Omolana, Timilehin (August 2, 2022). "What Is Bun.js and Why Is the JavaScript Community Excited About It?". makeuseof.com. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  15. ^ "Open Source – WebKit". Apple. Archived from the original on March 11, 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  16. ^ Purcher, Jack (March 7, 2013). "Apple's "WebKit" is now a Registered Trademark in the US". Patently Apple. Archived from the original on March 9, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.

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