Gecko: A Smaller, Faster Lizard
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On Monday, December 7th, 1998, Netscape Communications Corporation, makers of the world's most popular Web browser, Netscape Navigator, announced the delivery of its new layout engine, Gecko, in a press release. On Friday of that week Gecko was available for download from Netscape's DevEdge Online Web site. But to most of the people following advancements in browser technology, including yours truly, this was no news.
Gecko has been available, in one form or another, for several months now. What distinguishes this program from any other Netscape product or in fact any piece of software with a target audience this size is that it is an Open Source project. Those of you who have been living in a cave for the past few years will get a chance to learn more about Open Source later on in this article.
But before I proceed and tell you more about this piece of software that can practically fit on 3.5" floppy disk, let me tell you this: Gecko is the most important piece of software ever released for the Web since Tim Berners-Lee wrote WorldWideWeb for the NeXT. Although still at an early stage of its development, it shows every sign of becoming the catalyst for nothing short of another information revolution that has been years in the making. And I do not exaggerate. Read on and find out why.
| Contents of this Tutorial | Page | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | A New Lizard | 1 |
| 2. | Tale of a Tailed Lizard | 2 |
| 3. | A Smaller, Faster Lizard | 3 |
| 4. | A Smarter Lizard | 4 |
| 5. | The Big Lizard | 5 |
| 6. | A Lizard that Does HyperText | 6 |
| 7. | A Lizard with Style | 7 |
| 8. | Conclusion | 8 |
