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Presto

Developer(s)	Opera Software ASA
Stable release	2.12.388 / 5 November 2012; 6 months ago (2012-11-05)^[1]
Written in	C++^[2]
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Application framework / Software component
License	Proprietary
Website	dev.opera.com

Presto is the purpose-built layout engine of the Opera web browser for a decade. It was released on 28 January 2003 in Opera 7, for Windows, after several public betas and technical previews. It remained in use until Opera 12.15, when the browser's developer Opera Software ASA began phasing Presto out of its products in favor of the WebKit layout engine and V8 JavaScript engine combined with a modified Chromium browser.^[3]

Presto is a dynamic engine. Webpages could be re-rendered completely or partially in response to DOM events. Its releases saw a number of bug fixes and optimizations to improve the speed of the ECMAScript (JavaScript) engine. It is proprietary software only available as a part of the Opera browsers.

1 ECMAScript engines
2 History and development
3 Presto-based applications
- 3.1 Web browsers
- 3.2 HTML editors
4 Cultural notes
5 References
6 External links

ECMAScript engines [edit]

A succession of ECMAScript engines have been used with Opera. (For the origin of their names, see Cultural notes below). Pre-Presto versions of Opera used the Linear A engine. Opera versions based on the Core fork of Presto, Opera 7.0 through 9.27, use the Linear B engine.^[4] The Futhark engine is used in some versions on the Core 2 fork of Presto, namely Opera 9.5 to Opera 10.10.^[5] When released it was the fastest engine around, but in 2008 a new generation of ECMAScript engines from Google (V8), Mozilla (TraceMonkey) and Apple (SquirrelFish) took one more step, introducing native code generation. This opened up for potential heavy computations on the client side and Futhark, though still fast and efficient, would not be able to keep up.

In early 2009, Opera began to use the Carakan engine. It features register-based bytecode, native code generation, automatic object classification and overall performance improvements.^[6]^[7] Early access in the Opera 10.50 pre-alpha showed that it is as fast as the fastest competitors, being the winner in 2 out of the 3 most used benchmarks.^[8]

History and development [edit]

Presto Version	ECMAScript engine	Browser code name	Opera Browser	Opera Mobile	Other use	New features
pre Presto	none	unnamed	3.5
pre Presto	Linear A	Electra/unnamed ^[9]	4.0
1.0	Linear B	unnamed	7.0			a completely new rendering engine, Favicon support^[10]
1.0			8.5			"Bolton" version: 1st completely free download version (ad-free toolbar)
2.0		Merlin	9.0		Internet Channel^[11]	Canvas, Acid2 Test: passed, Rich text editing, XSLT and XPath
2.1	Futhark	Kestrel	9.5	9.5^[12]	Nintendo DSi Browser	SVG Tiny 1.2, SVG as CSS, SVG as <img>, Audio object
2.1.1		Kestrel	9.6			Scope API,^[13] SVG as Favicon
2.2		Peregrine		9.7^[14]
2.2.15			10.0^[15] 10.1	9.8^[16]		Acid3 test: 100/100, pixel-perfect, Web fonts, CSS Selectors API, RGBA & HSLA opacity, TLS 1.2.,^[17] FPS in SVG, SVG fonts in HTML
2.3					Opera Devices SDK 10	CSS3 : border-image, border-radius (rounded corners), box-shadow, transitions; HTML5: <audio> and <video> elements
2.4				10		CSS2.1: visibility:collapse; CSS3 : transforms; HTML5: <canvas> shadows, Web Database, Web Storage, window.btoa and window.atob
2.5.24	Carakan	Evenes	10.5	10.1	Opera Mini server	CSS3: multiple backgrounds; HTML5: <canvas> Text
2.6.30		Evenes	10.6			WebM; HTML5: AppCache, Geolocation, Web Workers^[18]
2.7.62		Kjevik	11.0	11.0		Extensions, WebSocket
2.8.131		Barracuda	11.1	11.1	Opera Mini server 4.27	WebP, File API, CSS3 gradients (only for the background and background-image properties): -o-linear-gradient(), -o-repeating-linear-gradient(); Support for <color-stop> added.
2.9.168		Swordfish	11.5			Session history management, classList (DOMTokenList)
2.9.201				11.50 for Android		ECMAscript strict mode
2.10.229		Tunny	11.6	11.6		HTML5 Parser, full support to CSS Gradients, Typed Arrays, CSS unit "rem"
2.10.254		Wahoo		12.0		WebGL and Hardware Acceleration^[19]
2.10.289		Wahoo	12.0			WebGL and Hardware Acceleration^[19]
2.11.355		Marlin		12.1 for Android		SPDY, CSS3 Flexbox ^[20]
2.12.388		Marlin	12.10-12.15			SPDY, CSS3 Flexbox ^[20]

Presto-based applications [edit]

Web browsers [edit]

Opera
- Opera 7 and above
- Opera Mobile
- Opera Mini
Nintendo
- Nintendo DS Browser (based on Opera)^[21]
- Nintendo DSi Browser (based on Opera)^[22]
- Wii Internet Channel Browser (based on Opera)^[23]
Nokia 770 Browser (based on Opera)
Sony Mylo COM-1's Browser (based on Opera)^[24]

HTML editors [edit]

Macromedia Dreamweaver MX to Dreamweaver CS3 (CS4/CS5 use WebKit)
Adobe Creative Suite 2^[25]
Adobe Creative Suite 3^[26]
Virtual Mechanics SiteSpinner Pro^[27]

Cultural notes [edit]

The ECMAScript engines used with Opera have been named after ancient and traditional writing scripts, including ancient Greek Linear A and Linear B, Runic Futhark, and Javanese Carakan.

References [edit]

^ Opera 12.0 Changelog
^ Lextrait, Vincent (January 2010). "The Programming Languages Beacon, v10.0". Retrieved 4 January 2010.
^ Lawson, Bruce (2013-02-12). "300 million users and move to WebKit". Opera Software. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
^ Sivonen, Henri (2006-11-23). "Names of Browser Engines". Retrieved 2007-01-03.
^ Bointon, Marcus (2006-12-19). "SunSpider Benchmarks: WebKit Rocks". Pet Pixels. Retrieved 2007-01-03.
^ Lindström, Jens (2009-02-05). "Carakan - By Opera Core Concerns". Opera Software. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
^ Lindström, Jens (2009-12-22). "Carakan Revisited - By Opera Core Concerns". Opera Software. Retrieved 2009-12-26.
^ Fulton, Scott M. III (2009-02-22). "The once and future king: Test build of Opera crushes Chrome on Windows 7". betanews. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
^ Opera version history At first Electra was the codename for the Opera 4.0 browser but was later designated as a layout engine name for Opera versions 3.5 through 6
^ "Opera 7 for Windows Changelog". Opera Software. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
^ "Opera Dragonfly documentation". Opera Software. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
^ "Reviewer’s Guide to Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta". Opera Software. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
^ Lawson, Bruce (2008-09-10). "Opera Presto 2.1 - Web standards supported by Opera’s core". Opera Software. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
^ "Opera announces the new Opera Mobile 9.7 at CTIA Wireless 2009 – a server-accelerated full Web experience for smartphones and mobile devices" (Press release). Opera Software. 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
^ released
^ "Opera Software grows in Poland: International Web browser company celebrates the Warsaw office opening" (Press release). Opera Software. 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
^ Pettersen, Yngve Nysæter (2009-02-25). "New in Opera Presto 2.2: TLS 1.2 Support". Opera Software. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
^ Kleinhout, Huib (1. July 2010). "Opera 10.60 goes final". My Opera. Opera Software. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
^ "Introducing Opera 12 Alpha". My Opera. Opera Software. 13. October 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
^ "Opera Mobile 12.1: with SPDY, WebSockets, Flexbox and more". My Opera. Opera Software. 9. October 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
^ "Surf in Bed: Nintendo DS Browser hits Japan" (Press release). Opera Software ASA. 2006-07-24. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
^ Rahul Srinivas and Jon S. von Tetzchner (2008-10-08). "Operating Systems are Less Important: Opera". Techtree. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
^ "Play with the Web: Opera browser now available for download on Wii" (Press release). Opera Software ASA. 2006-12-22. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
^ "Sony Electronics uses the Opera browser for its new mylo personal communicator" (Press release). Opera Software ASA. 2006-08-23. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
^ "Powered by Opera: Opera Integrated with Adobe Creative Suite 2" (Press release). Opera Software ASA. 2005-04-04. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
^ "Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3) uses built-in Opera for rendering engine". 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
^ "Design Web Pages for the Desktop and Mobile Devices" (Press release). Virtual Mechanics Inc. 2008-11-18. Retrieved 2008-11-18.

External links [edit]

v t e Opera

Companies	Opera Software Telenor

Software	Opera History Features Opera 10 Opera Mail Opera Dragonfly Opera Mobile Opera Mini Nintendo DS & DSi Browser Internet Channel

Technology	Presto Opera Show Format

Websites	My Opera

Related software	Operator YAPO

Notable individuals	Håkon Wium Lie Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner Geir Ivarsøy

v t e Layout engines

Actively developed layout engines	Amaya Blink Gecko KHTML Presto Prince Servo Trident WebKit

Inactive layout engines	Boxely Gazelle GtkHTML HTMLayout iCab Mariner Tasman Tkhtml

Comparison of layout engines	HTML non-standard HTML HTML5 media canvas XML XHTML 1.1 MathML SVG CSS ECMAScript DOM Graphics Typography

ECMAScript

Dialects

Engines
(comparison)

Carakan
Futhark
InScript
JavaScriptCore
- SquirrelFish
JScript
KJS
Linear B
Narcissus
QtScript
Rhino
YAJI
SpiderMonkey
- TraceMonkey
- JägerMonkey
Tamarin
V8
Chakra
Jurassic
JavaScript .NET
Jint

Frameworks,
libraries

JavaScript
(comparison)

Client-side (list, Ajax frameworks)	Ample SDK CougarXML Dojo Echo Ext JS Google Web Toolkit jQuery Lively Kernel midori MochiKit MooTools Prototype Pyjamas qooxdoo Rialto Rico script.aculo.us SmartClient SproutCore Spry YUI Library

Server-side (comparison)	AppJet Jaxer Node.js

Libraries (list)	Backbone SWFObject SWFAddress Underscore

ActionScript

PureMVC

Multiple
implementations

Cappuccino
- JavaScript
- Objective-J

People

Other

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Presto (layout engine)

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