WebKit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WebKit is an application framework included with Mac OS X v10.3 and later (and available as a software update for v10.2.7 and later) which is the basis of Mac OS X's Safari web browser, allowing third party developers to include much of Safari's functionality in their own products with very little work.
WebKit's Objective-C API provides the capability to interact with a web server, retrieve and render web pages, download files, and manage plugins.
WebKit includes two lower-level frameworks: WebCore, an HTML parser and renderer based on KHTML, and JavaScriptCore, a JavaScript engine based on KJS. Both are heavily modified from the KDE originals for performance, web site compatibility and standards compliance.
On June 7 2005, Safari developer Dave Hyatt announced on his weblog that Apple was open sourcing WebKit (previously, only WebCore and JavaScriptCore were open source) and opening up access to the CVS tree and Bugzilla tool for it. This move was first announced at Apple's WWDC 2005 by Bertrand Serlet. (The code was moved from CVS to Subversion on January 7, 2006.)
On June 13 2005, Nokia announced that it was developing a browser based on WebKit, which was later named Web Browser for S60.
On December 15 2005 support for Scalable Vector Graphics was merged into the standard build.
On January 10 2006 the CVS tree was migrated to Subversion.
[edit] Applications using WebKit
- Web browsers built on WebKit:
- Safari, the default web browser on Mac OS X.
- OmniWeb (versions later than 5.5), a feature-rich alternative web browser for Mac OS X.
- Shiira, a multilingual open-source web browser built on Cocoa.
- Swift, a web browser for Windows
- iRecordMusic, a web browser for recording audio from the Web.
- wKiosk, a web browser for creating locked down kiosks.
- Text editors which use WebKit to preview web content:
- Web feed aggregators which use WebKit to render web feeds (and also possibly to enable browsing of the Web):
- NetNewsWire, the most popular web feed aggregator for Mac OS X.
- NewsFire
- Vienna, an open-source web feed aggregator.
- Others:
- iTunes, Apple's entertainment center, uses WebKit to access the iTunes Store.
- Adium, a multi-protocol instant messenger, uses WebKit to display messages.
- Colloquy, an IRC and SILC chat client, uses WebKit to display conversations.
- Dashboard, an application for Mac OS X used to host mini-applications.
- Drosera, a debugger used in WebKit development, mostly written in WebKit.
- Growl, a global notifications system which uses WebKit for some of its displays.
- Xcode, Apple's integrated development environment, uses WebKit to display documentation.
- Mail, Apple's e-mail client for Mac OS X, uses WebKit to compose and display messages.
[edit] External links
- The WebKit Open Source Project — Official site
- Surfin' Safari — Weblog by the WebKit development team. Replaces the original Dave Hyatt-only weblog.
- Introduction to Web Kit Objective-C Programming Guide at developer.apple.com
- GNUstep WebKit — GNUstep port of WebKit
- Nightly builds of WebKit
- NightShift — Application to automatically download nightly builds of WebKit
- S60 OSS Browser — Information about Web Browser for S60 open source software.
Applications
Address Book • Automator • Backup • Calculator • Chess • Dashboard • Dictionary •
DVD Player • Finder • Front Row • Grapher • iCal • iChat • iSync • iTunes • Mail • Photo Booth • Preview • QuickTime Player • Safari • Sherlock • Stickies • TextEdit
Utilities
Activity Monitor • AirPort Admin Utility • Audio MIDI Setup • Bluetooth File Exchange • BOMArchiveHelper • Classic • ColorSync Utility • Console • Crash Reporter • DigitalColor Meter • Directory Access • DiskImageMounter • Disk Utility • Font Book • Grab • Help Viewer • Image Capture • Installer • Internet Connect • Keychain Access • Migration Assistant • NetInfo Manager • Network Utility • ODBC Administrator • Printer Setup Utility •
Software Update • System Preferences • System Profiler • Terminal •
Universal Access • VoiceOver • X11
Technology & User interface (future features italicized)
⌘ • ⌥ • Apple Advanced Typography • AppleScript • Aqua • ATSUI • Audio Units • Bonjour • Boot Camp • Carbon • Cocoa • ColorSync • Core Animation • Core Audio • Core Data • Core Foundation • Core Image • Core Video • CUPS • Darwin • Exposé • FileVault • Inkwell • icns • Keychain • Mach-O • OpenGL • plist • Quartz • QuickTime • Rosetta • Smart folder • Spaces • Spotlight • Time Machine • Uniform Type Identifier • Universal binary • WebKit • Xgrid • XNU
