[webkit-dev] Running v8 in the major platform ports (win and mac)

[Ryan Ackley]

I just found http://www.chromium.org/developers/content-module/ . It
looks very promising.

On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 3:45 AM, Evan Martin <evan at chromium.org> wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 4:41 PM, Ryan Ackley <ryanackley at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I want to use Webkit for a project I'm working on but I would prefer
>> the v8 JavaScript engine for a variety of reasons. I did see that
>> there was a Qt v8 port and a gtk v8 port.
>>
>> Has anyone attempted a port that uses v8 for Windows and/or Mac OS X?
>>
>> Looking at the previous ones (GTK and Qt), I think it's within my
>> technical reach to write such a port. If I were successful, and
>> assuming it meets engineering standards (the tests pass, code
>> reviewed, etc.), would it likely be accepted as a patch for Webkit?
>
> This is kind of a FAQ but I don't think it's answered anywhere.
>
> A WebKit "port" includes not only the JavaScript engine but also the
> graphics stack, network stack, and other pieces.
>
> On Windows the main ports are:
> - Apple's port that uses Apple libraries (Core Graphics etc.)
> - Google's port (Chrome) that uses Skia, Chrome's network stack (and
> also v8 but that's orthogonal)
> - and there's also a port using Cairo that I don't know a whole lot about
>
> Of those, I guess the Chrome port is the most popular in terms of
> users but (as you said off-list) it's kind of a beast to embed.
> However, of these it is the one that other projects (like Steam) tend
> to embed.
>
> It's not clear to me what the legalities are of using Apple's port in
> your software (as the libraries it depends on are closed-source), but
> don't let me spread FUD about it, check it for yourself.
>
> The Cairo port is a labor of love from one person so I don't know
> whether it'll be easier for your purposes.
> http://trac.webkit.org/wiki/BuildingCairoOnWindows
>
> In total, unless you're using a full stack like Qt, there is no
> obvious "for Windows" port.
> (On OS X, Apple's WebKit is a standard framework and it's obviously
> the right choice for embedding.)