Chromium is a free and open source web browser project, principally developed and maintained by Google.[4] This codebase provides the vast majority of code for the Google Chrome browser, which is proprietary software and has some additional features.
The Chromium codebase is widely used. Microsoft Edge, Samsung Internet, Opera, and many other browsers are based on the Chromium code. Moreover, significant portions of the code are used by several app frameworks.
Google does not provide an official stable version of the Chromium browser, but does provide some official API keys for some included functionality, such as speech to text, text to speech, translation, etc.
Licensing[]
Chromium is a free and open source project. The Google-authored portion is shared under the 3-clause BSD license.[8] Other parts are subject to a variety of licenses, including MIT, LGPL, Ms-PL, and an MPL/GPL/LGPL tri-license.[9]
This licensing permits any party to build the codebase and share the resulting browser executable with the Chromium name and logo. Thus many Linux distributions do this, as well as FreeBSD and OpenBSD.[10]
Differences from Google Chrome[]
Chromium provides the vast majority of source code for Google Chrome, so the name "Chromium" was chosen by Google because chromium metal is used in chrome plating.[1][11]
Features[]
Chromium lacks the following Chrome features:[10]
- Automatic browser updates
- API keys for some Google services, including browser sync[12]
- The Widevine DRM module
- Licensed codecs for the popular H.264 video and AAC audio formats
- Tracking mechanisms for usage and crash reports
Branding and licensing[]
While Chrome has the same user interface functionality as Chromium, it changes the color scheme to the Google-branded one. Unlike Chromium, Chrome is not open-source, so its binaries are licensed as freeware under the Google Chrome Terms of Service.[13]
Development[]
The Chromium browser codebase contains about 35 million source lines of code.[5]
Contributors[]
Chromium has been a Google project since its inception,[1][4] and Google employees have done the bulk of the development work.[3]
Google refers to this project and the offshoot Chromium OS as "The Chromium Projects",[14] and its employees use @chromium.org email addresses for this development work. However, in terms of governance, The Chromium Projects are not independent entities; Google retains firm control of them.[4]
The Chromium browser codebase is widely used, so others have made important contributions, most notably Microsoft, Igalia, Yandex, Intel, Samsung, LG, Opera, and Brave.[3][4] Some employees of these companies also have @chromium.org email addresses.
Programming languages[]
C++ is the primary language, comprising about half of the codebase.[5] This includes the Blink and V8 engines, the implementation of HTTP and other protocols, the internal caching system, and other essential browser components.
Some of the user interface is implemented in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.[6][5] An extensive collection of web platform tests are also written in these languages.[7]
About 10% of the codebase is written in C.[5] This is mostly from third-party libraries that provide essential functionality, such as SQLite and numerous codecs.[15]
Support for mobile operating systems requires special languages: Java for Android, and for iOS both Swift and Objective-C.[6][5]
Logistics[]
The bug tracking system is a publicly accessible website.[16] Participants are identified by their email addresses.
The Chromium continuous integration system automatically builds and tests the codebase several times a day.[17]
Builds are identified by a four-part version number that is major.minor.build.patch.[18] This versioning scheme and the branch points that occur every six to seven weeks are from Google Chrome and its development cycle.[19]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Google (2 September 2008). "Welcome to Chromium". Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ↑ Murphy, Glen (2012-12-18). "Why is Google Chrome browser named as Chrome?". Retrieved 6 July 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Intent to Explain: Demystifying the Blink Shipping Process". Chromium Blog. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Shankland, Stephen (30 November 2020). "Google gets web allies by letting outsiders help build Chrome's foundation". CNET. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "Chromium - Language Breakdown". Open Hub. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Chromium coding style". Google Git. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Web Platform Tests". Chromium repository. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "BSD license". Chromium repository. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Chromium Terms and Conditions". Google Code. 2 September 2008. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Notes on Chromium". Woolyss. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ↑ Murphy, Glen (2012-12-18). "Why is Google Chrome browser named as Chrome?". Retrieved 6 July 2020.
- ↑ "Chromium sync Google API removed". 24 January 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ↑ "Google Chrome Terms of Service". www.google.com. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ↑ "The Chromium Projects". Google. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ↑ "third_party - chromium/src.git - Git at Google". Chromium repository. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ↑ "Chromium bug tracking system". Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ↑ "Tour of the Chromium Continuous Integration Console". Retrieved 26 April 2021.
- ↑ Frysinger, Mike (14 March 2014). "Version Numbers". The Chromium Projects. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ↑ LaForge, Anthony (16 December 2010). "Chrome Release Cycle -12/16/2010". Google Slides. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
External links[]
- Chromium official page at The Chromium Projects
- Chromium (web browser) at Wikipedia
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