EMZETT.Browser engine
In short: The browser engine (rendering engine) is the part of a browser that turns HTML, CSS and JavaScript into the visible page.
In more detail: It reads the code, builds the DOM tree from it, calculates the layout (what stands where) and paints the page. On top of that comes a JavaScript engine that executes the script code.
In Depth
| Engine | Used by | JavaScript engine |
|---|---|---|
| Blink | Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave | V8 |
| WebKit | Safari | JavaScriptCore |
| Gecko | Firefox | SpiderMonkey |
- Process: load code, parse, build DOM and CSS rules, calculate layout, paint and composite.
- Why it matters: each engine implements the web standards a little differently. A page should be tested in all the big engines (responsive design).
- Variety: on iPhones only WebKit was allowed for a long time, so other browsers there are based on it as well. New web features often appear first in Blink.
See also: browser, web browser, HTML