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Show HN: Vaev – A browser engine built from scratch (It renders google.com)

(github.com)
233 points monax | 1 comments | 18 May 25 17:54 UTC | HN request time: 0.218s | source

We’ve been working on Vaev, a minimal web browser engine built from scratch. It supports HTML/XHTML, the CSS cascade, @page rules for pagination, and print-to-PDF rendering. It even handles calc(), var(), and percentage units—and yes, it renders Google.com (mostly).

This is an experimental project focused on learning and exploration. Networking is basic (http:// and file:// only), and grid layouts aren’t supported yet, but we’re making progress fast.

We’d love your thoughts and feedback.

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DarkmSparks ◴[19 May 25 00:24 UTC] No.44025399[source]▶
I know its a tangent, but the idea that maybe ripping out android webview into a standalone cross platform project in its own right pops into my head everytime this problem arises. Keep meaning to check if anyones actually done it already.
replies(2): >>44025516 #>>44026374 #
1. exikyut ◴[19 May 25 03:47 UTC] No.44026374[source]▶
Google themselves actually have gone vaguely in the direction you're thinking, kind of, in the form of Cobalt: a stripped-down copy of Chromium that has specific, deliberate "quirks" that minimize memory allocation/ballooning in long-running applications.

Google uses it to power YouTube TV.

Unfortunately, while I'm sure I downloaded a Linux X11 binary a while back to play with, I can't find anything of the like available anymore. The release packages just contain a shared library, and the containers in the registry are just full of compiler toolchains (I installed ncdu in them and checked).

The whole system is mired/buried in layers of hardware integration fluff (because Cobalt is meant to be embedded in set-top boxes) and there is very little in the way of batteries-included demos, potentially to keep the product from gaining cottage-industry traction on older systems. Which does make sense, given that there are specific CSS rules that Cobalt doesn't follow the spec on, and I'm not sure where where its JS support is at.

https://developers.google.com/youtube/cobalt

The compilation docs are about as dense as Chromium's are -.-

https://developers.google.com/youtube/cobalt/docs/developmen...