A gecko is a small to large Japanese lizard. However, in the Mozilla context Gecko refers to the browser layout engine. Gecko is:
- open source free software (It was initially created by Netscape Corporation but now its development is stewarded by the Mozilla Foundation.)
- cross-platform (Windows, BSD, Linux and Mac OS X)
- Written in C++
- Gecko is used in almost all Mozilla based software.
- The 2nd most popular layout engine after Trident (IE's layout engine).
Gecko supports the following open internet standards:
- Hyptertext Markup Language (HTML) v4.0
- JavaScript 1.6
- eXtensible Markup Language (XML) v1.0
- Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
- Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 & 2
- eXtensible Hyptertext Markup Language (XHTML) v 1.1
- Mathematical Markup Language (MathML)
- Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
- Resource Description Framework (RDF)
Background
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Gecko is written in C++ and offers a rich programming API allowing it to support a variety of nternet related applications. But what exactly is a layout engine? and what does it do?
Well