Browsersphere

An article written nine months ago, The genius behind Google’s browser, goes in-depth with the main programmer behind Google Chrome’s v8 JavaScript engine, Lars Bak.  Although the article’s title and certain parts of the story perhaps give a little too much credit to one man (there’s a lot more to Google’s browser than its JavaScript engine), it’s a very interesting read nonetheless.  The following is a short excerpt from the article:

Many computer programs are built using previous versions, or related code, but V8 was started from scratch – a blank slate. When I meet [Kasper] Lund later in my Denmark trip, he takes great delight in underscoring this fact: “It’s the purest form of coding there is.” [Lars] Bak clearly agrees – as Lund speaks, he can’t stop smiling.

Beyond detailing the story behind v8’s development in Denmark, the article gives a personal glimpse at its key creator, something his Wikipedia article doesn’t quite achieve.

If you’re interested in the developers behind the browsers or browser-related technology you probably take for granted on a daily basis, I’d definitely give the well-written The genius behind Google’s browser a read.

Tags: Chrome, Developers, Development, Google, Google Chrome, JavaScript Engines, Kasper Lund, Lars Bak, V8

Over at the Official Google Blog, Google announced today that they are releasing “a fresh take on the browser” tomorrow which they have dubbed Google Chrome.  Here are the choice tidbits from the article (at least from my perspective):

• The release will be a beta version and will be released in more than 100 countries.
• Google “started from scratch” and used the “best elements out there.”
• The browser is apparently clean and fast.
• The browser supports tabs, and each tab is isolated in such a way that a crash in one shouldn’t affect the others.
• Google created a new JavaScript engine for the browser, which they call “V8.”
• Google is working on versions for Mac and Linux, but it doesn’t sound like they will be ready to download tomorrow.
• The browser is based off of both WebKit and Firefox, and will be released as open source, just like they are.

There are a few other details already available on Wikipedia:

• The address bar will have auto-completion features (apparently called “omnibox”).
• Web apps can be launched in their own web browser window with very little surrounding chrome.
• It is integrated with Google Gears.

Be sure to drop by the Official Google Blog tomorrow if you feel like giving the beta a test drive.  Not that I really needed to tell you that, since I’m sure every single browserphile running Windows will be downloading it tomorrow and seeing what it’s all about.

Tags: Beta, Features, Firefox, Google, Google Chrome, JavaScript, Open Source, V8, WebKit