Browser engine facts for kids

A browser engine is a super important part of a web browser, which is the program you use to explore the internet. Think of it as the brain that makes web pages appear on your screen! It's also sometimes called a layout engine or rendering engine. This engine works separately from other parts of the browser, like the JavaScript engine which handles interactive stuff on websites.

How Browser Engines Work

A browser engine has a big job: making web pages look right on your screen.

Turning Code into Pages

First, the engine takes the Hyper Text Markup Language code of a web page. HTML is like the skeleton of the page. It tells the browser what content is there, such as text, pictures, and links. The engine breaks this HTML code into many small pieces called elements.

Building the Page Structure

Next, these elements are put into something called the Document Object Model, or DOM. You can think of the DOM as a map or a tree that shows how all the parts of the web page fit together. It helps the engine understand the order and relationships of everything on the page.

Adding Style and Design

After understanding the structure, the engine looks at the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) code. CSS is like the clothes and makeup for the web page. It tells the engine how to make the page look good. This includes where to place the elements from the DOM. It also tells the engine about colors, fonts, backgrounds, and other design details. By combining HTML and CSS, the browser engine creates the final web page you see.

Popular Browser Engines

Many different browser engines are used today. Each one helps power the web browsers we use every day.

• Blink is a widely used engine. It powers many popular browsers. These include Google Chrome, Chromium, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Brave.
• Gecko is another well-known engine. It is used by the Mozilla Firefox web browser. Gecko also helps power the Mozilla Thunderbird email client.
• WebKit is the engine used by Apple Safari. It also powers all web browsers that run on IOS devices, like iPhones and iPads.

See also

In Spanish: Motor de renderizado para niños