WebKit is a layout engine software designed to allow web browsers to render web pages. WebKit powers the Apple Safari and Google Chrome browsers. As of July 2012 it has the most market share of any layout engine at over 40% of the browser market share according to StatCounter. It is also used as the basis for the experimental browser included with the Amazon Kindle e-book reader, as well as the default browser in the Apple iOS, Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS, Bada, Tizen and webOS mobile operating systems. WebKit's C++ API provides a set of classes to display web content in windows, and implements browser features such as following links when clicked by the user, managing a back-forward list, and managing a history of pages recently visited.
WebKit’s HTML and JavaScript code originally began as a fork of the KHTML and KJS libraries from KDE, and has now been further developed by individuals from KDE, Apple Inc., Nokia, Google, Bitstream, RIM, Igalia, and others. Mac OS X, Windows, GNU/Linux, and some other Unix-like operating systems are supported by the project.
WebKit’s WebCore and JavaScriptCore components are available under the GNU Lesser General Public License, and the rest of WebKit is available under a BSD-form license.