computer science

Presto (browser engine)

Presto (browser engine) is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Presto (browser engine) rather than just read about it. In short: Presto was the browser engine of the Opera web browser from the release of Opera 7 on 28 January 2003, until the release of Opera 15 on 2 July 2013, at which time Opera switched to using the Blink engine that was originally created for Chromium. Presto was also used to power the Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers.

Key takeaways

Presto (browser engine) belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Presto (browser engine) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Presto (browser engine) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Presto was the browser engine of the Opera web browser from the release of Opera 7 on 28 January 2003, until the release of Opera 15 on 2 July 2013, at which time Opera switched to using the Blink engine that was originally created for Chromium. Presto was also used to power the Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers. Presto is a dynamic engine. Web pages can 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 and was only available as a part of the Opera browsers.

ECMAScript engines 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, used the Linear B engine. The Futhark engine is used in some versions on the Core 2 fork of Presto, namely Opera 9.5 to Opera 10.10. When released it was the fastest engine around, but in 2008 a new generation of ECMAScript engines from Google (V8), Mozilla (SpiderMonkey), and Apple (JavaScriptCore) 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, was unable to keep up. In early 2009, Opera introduced the Carakan engine. It featured register-based bytecode, native code generation, automatic object classification, and overall performance improvements. 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.

History and development

Presto-based applications

Web browsers Opera Opera 7 to 12 Opera Mobile 9.5 to 12 Opera Mini (continues to use Presto rendering on an intermediate server on keypad phones and as Extreme mode on Android devices) Nintendo Nintendo DS Browser (based on Opera) Nintendo DSi Browser (based on Opera) Wii Internet Channel Browser (based on Opera) Nokia 770 Browser (based on Opera) Sony Mylo COM-1's Browser (based on Opera)

HTML editors Macromedia Dreamweaver MX to Dreamweaver CS3 (CS4/CS5 use WebKit) Adobe Creative Suite 2 and 3

Source code leak The source code for version 12.15 was leaked to GitHub on February 11, 2016. It remained unnoticed until January 12, 2017 and was taken down two days later in response to a DMCA request. Opera Software has confirmed the authenticity of the source code.

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

See also Blink (browser engine) V8 (JavaScript engine)

References

External links Opera Developer Community – Presto 2.1 – web standards supported by Opera’s core Opera Developer Community

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Presto (browser engine)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Presto (browser engine) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Presto (browser engine) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Presto (browser engine) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Presto (browser engine)

In research: Presto (browser engine) appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Presto (browser engine) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Presto (browser engine) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2003 software, Browser engines, History of the Internet, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Presto (browser engine) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Presto (browser engine) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Presto (browser engine) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Presto (browser engine) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Presto (browser engine) in simple terms?

Why does Presto (browser engine) matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Presto (browser engine)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Presto (browser engine).