How to create your own web browser from scratch?

[Icy Hearts]

I've searched google, but I can't seem to find any references on how to code your own browser in HTML. I've seen 'visual basics' mentioned many times. Will it design a browser in HTML or does it work differently? I'm trying to improve for school, before next quarter, and when I show my digital portfolio to colleges I'd like to show it in a browser that I made. I was hoping that you guys might have some tips or know of good sites that can help me. Thank you for any help you can give.

[The Last Rydian]

I think you mean a web page. A browser is the program you use to view web pages, like "Internet Explorer" and "Firefox" and "Opera" and "Safari" are browsers, whereas www.google.com is a webpage.

[Icy Hearts]

The Last Rydian

I think you mean a web page. A browser is the program you use to view web pages, like "Internet Explorer" and "Firefox" and "Opera" and "Safari" are browsers, whereas www.google.com is a webpage.

No, I've seen quite a few people who have programmed their own browser. I'm using firefox now, but I'd like to make my own.

[The Last Rydian]

You don't make one from scratch unless you have months of time to spend, literally.

What people with VB do is they create a window that just uses internet explorer's rendering engine.

Get Visual Basic and start reading some simple browser tutorials.

[Icy Hearts]

The Last Rydian

You don't make one from scratch unless you have months of time to spend, literally.

What people with VB do is they create a window that just uses internet explorer's rendering engine.

Get Visual Basic and start reading some simple browser tutorials.

Are there any tutorials that you would recommend?

[The Last Rydian]

Not really, it's almost all copy-paste code, if you want it to look a specific way and such you'd need to learn VB anyways to style it personally.

[Caitlyn McKenzie]

Icy Hearts

I've searched google, but I can't seem to find any references on how to code your own browser in HTML. I've seen 'visual basics' mentioned many times. Will it design a browser in HTML or does it work differently? I'm trying to improve for school, before next quarter, and when I show my digital portfolio to colleges I'd like to show it in a browser that I made. I was hoping that you guys might have some tips or know of good sites that can help me. Thank you for any help you can give.

Unless you plan on lugging your laptop around no one is going to use your custom browser skin. (And that's all it will be, a skin.) If you really just want to change the look of your browser, try changing the theme of Firefox. It will be much easier to do than writing up a Visual Basic program to try and theme IE.

Otherwise, writing an actual browser is not a short weekend project, there are entire teams of programmers who work on browsers like IE and Firefox, and they're still not perfect.

[Lograh]

Caitlyn McKenzie

Unless you plan on lugging your laptop around no one is going to use your custom browser skin. (And that's all it will be, a skin.) If you really just want to change the look of your browser, try changing the theme of Firefox. It will be much easier to do than writing up a Visual Basic program to try and theme IE.

Otherwise, writing an actual browser is not a short weekend project, there are entire teams of programmers who work on browsers like IE and Firefox, and they're still not perfect.

I agree with Caitlyn. A browser "skin", though it can change the look of the underlying browser (IE is designed so it's easy to import the Trident rendering engine as mentioned earlier in the thread) is really not touching any of the real complexities inside... and nobody's likely to use most browser skins - and to get them to a level where people might consider it at all... is a LOT of work.

As for writing a browser itself, Caitlin's hit it on the head directly.
To give you an idea, it isn't VB (It's C/C++), but if you care to take a look at a SIMPLE browser's code, you can always check out the source code to Dillo. (www.dillo.org) And Dillo's about as simple as a visual browser gets - it doesn't handle frames, javascript, even CSS. It's not a small undertaking by any means.

[Icy Hearts]

Lograh

Caitlyn McKenzie

Unless you plan on lugging your laptop around no one is going to use your custom browser skin. (And that's all it will be, a skin.) If you really just want to change the look of your browser, try changing the theme of Firefox. It will be much easier to do than writing up a Visual Basic program to try and theme IE.

Otherwise, writing an actual browser is not a short weekend project, there are entire teams of programmers who work on browsers like IE and Firefox, and they're still not perfect.

I agree with Caitlyn. A browser "skin", though it can change the look of the underlying browser (IE is designed so it's easy to import the Trident rendering engine as mentioned earlier in the thread) is really not touching any of the real complexities inside... and nobody's likely to use most browser skins - and to get them to a level where people might consider it at all... is a LOT of work.

As for writing a browser itself, Caitlin's hit it on the head directly.
To give you an idea, it isn't VB (It's C/C++), but if you care to take a look at a SIMPLE browser's code, you can always check out the source code to Dillo. (www.dillo.org) And Dillo's about as simple as a visual browser gets - it doesn't handle frames, javascript, even CSS. It's not a small undertaking by any means.

I have about half a year to work on it, and my teacher codes websites and such as part of his job, so he can always help me. Thank you for the link.

[Caitlyn McKenzie]

Icy Hearts

I have about half a year to work on it, and my teacher codes websites and such as part of his job, so he can always help me. Thank you for the link.

You need to stop confusing "coding websites" for "coding browsers". They are entirely different beasts. Your teacher, if all he does is make websites, would have no idea how to make a web browser. The two are entirely different. Websites at their most basic level are written in HTML, which is a simple markup language. Browsers are written in full-fledged compiled programming languages (typically). You cannot write a browser in HTML.

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

It takes a whole team of programmers weeks (at the least) to make a stable web browser. You have to alpha and beta test it and do release candidates before it's ready for prime time.

[jlassan]

sory, but isnt this a question to be answered not shuned off? tis no good telling people that its a big project that takes months to do, how would some one go about doing it IF they had months to spend???

[Rayquazza]

jlassan

sory, but isnt this a question to be answered not shuned off? tis no good telling people that its a big project that takes months to do, how would some one go about doing it IF they had months to spend???

Learning either C or C++ enough to make a browser: 6, 7 years
Learning every specification with regards to the web (HTTP, HTML, JS, etc): 1, 2 years
Coding your HTML parser according to the specs, with different modes for HTML4, 5, and their tolerance levels: 1, 2 years
Coding your own JS engine that doesn't suck: 2, 3 years and lots, LOTS of studying

That's about... 40% of the time.

No, you won't be able to do it yourself. I'm sorry if this brings you down - it's not a project to be taken by a single person. It has an enormous complexity.

[uryu ishida]

jlassan

sory, but isnt this a question to be answered not shuned off? tis no good telling people that its a big project that takes months to do, how would some one go about doing it IF they had months to spend???

Learning the difference between a ******** web page and web browser would be a GREAT start.

And then hiring a nice team of professional programmers who actually know the coding language needed.

It's not something you do on your own, especially when you think browsers are made with HTML.

[x_Mr Snowman_x]

Rayquazza

jlassan

sory, but isnt this a question to be answered not shuned off? tis no good telling people that its a big project that takes months to do, how would some one go about doing it IF they had months to spend???

Learning either C or C++ enough to make a browser: 6, 7 years
Learning every specification with regards to the web (HTTP, HTML, JS, etc): 1, 2 years
Coding your HTML parser according to the specs, with different modes for HTML4, 5, and their tolerance levels: 1, 2 years
Coding your own JS engine that doesn't suck: 2, 3 years and lots, LOTS of studying

That's about... 40% of the time.

No, you won't be able to do it yourself. I'm sorry if this brings you down - it's not a project to be taken by a single person. It has an enormous complexity.

Or just don't do it. Try learning HTML and CSS. You can design webpages that way. It doesn't take 1-2 years to learn if it's just a hobby or something like that. It only takes that long if your serious about web designing.