Development Status

Project Progress & Roadmap

Zepra Browser Development Status

🎯 Project Overview

Zepra Browser is a cross-platform lightweight web browser built with C++ and SDL2, featuring an integrated KetiveeSearch engine. The project aims to provide a fast, privacy-focused browsing experience.

✅ Completed Components

1. Project Structure & Build System

  • CMakeLists.txt: Complete build configuration with platform-specific settings
  • Build Scripts: build.bat (Windows) and build.sh (Linux/macOS)
  • Project Organization: Proper directory structure with headers and source files
  • Dependencies: SDL2, OpenGL, libcurl, nlohmann/json integration

2. Core Types & Constants

  • include/common/types.h: Fundamental data types (String, Color, DOM nodes, etc.)
  • include/common/constants.h: Browser constants, UI dimensions, network settings
  • Type Safety: Strong typing throughout the codebase

3. HTML Parser Engine

  • include/engine/html_parser.h: Complete HTML parsing interface
  • src/engine/html_parser.cpp: Full implementation with:
    • DOM node classes (DocumentNode, ElementNode, TextNode)
    • HTML tokenizer and parser
    • Attribute handling and text extraction
    • HTML escaping/unescaping utilities
    • Node traversal and querying methods

4. KetiveeSearch Engine

  • include/search/ketivee_search.h: Search engine interface
  • src/search/ketivee_search.cpp: Complete implementation with:
    • HTTP client integration (libcurl)
    • JSON parsing (nlohmann/json)
    • Local and hybrid search capabilities
    • Search history and bookmarks
    • Query suggestions and trending searches
    • Multiple search types (web, images, videos, news, documents)

5. Window Management

  • include/ui/window.h: Cross-platform window management
  • src/ui/window.cpp: SDL2-based implementation with:
    • Window creation and management
    • OpenGL context handling
    • Event processing and callbacks
    • Browser-specific UI rendering
    • Keyboard shortcuts and input handling

6. Tab Management Interface

  • include/ui/tab_manager.h: Complete tab management system
  • Tab lifecycle management
  • Navigation history
  • Tab events and callbacks
  • Tab groups and organization

7. Network Layer

  • include/net/http.h: Comprehensive HTTP client interface
  • HTTP request/response handling
  • Cookie management
  • SSL/TLS support
  • URL parsing and utilities

8. Testing Framework

  • test/test_basic.cpp: Comprehensive test suite
  • Unit tests for all major components
  • Integration tests for HTML parsing and search
  • Build integration with CMake

9. Main Application

  • src/main.cpp: Application entry point
  • SDL2 initialization
  • Component testing and demonstration
  • Basic window rendering

🔧 Current Features

HTML Parsing

  • ✅ Parse HTML documents into DOM tree
  • ✅ Extract titles, links, and content
  • ✅ Handle HTML entities and escaping
  • ✅ Support for complex HTML structures

Search Engine

  • ✅ HTTP-based web search
  • ✅ Local search with relevance scoring
  • ✅ Hybrid search combining local and web results
  • ✅ Search history and bookmarks
  • ✅ Query suggestions and trending searches
  • ✅ Multiple search types (web, images, videos, news, documents)

Window Management

  • ✅ Cross-platform window creation
  • ✅ OpenGL rendering context
  • ✅ Event handling and callbacks
  • ✅ Browser UI layout (tab bar, address bar, toolbar)
  • ✅ Keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+T, Ctrl+W, Ctrl+R, etc.)

Build System

  • ✅ Cross-platform CMake configuration
  • ✅ Platform-specific dependency handling
  • ✅ Test integration
  • ✅ Installation and packaging

🚧 In Progress / Partially Implemented

1. Tab Manager Implementation

  • Status: Header complete, implementation needed
  • Next Steps: Implement tab lifecycle, navigation, and state management

2. HTTP Client Implementation

  • Status: Header complete, implementation needed
  • Next Steps: Implement libcurl-based HTTP client with proper error handling

3. Browser UI Rendering

  • Status: Basic OpenGL rendering implemented
  • Next Steps: Implement proper UI library integration (Dear ImGui, etc.)

📋 Next Steps (Priority Order)

High Priority

  1. Complete Tab Manager Implementation
    • Tab creation, navigation, and state management
    • Integration with window management
    • Tab persistence and restoration
  2. Implement HTTP Client
    • Complete libcurl integration
    • Proper error handling and retry logic
    • Cookie and session management
  3. Add CSS Engine
    • CSS parsing and rule matching
    • Style computation and inheritance
    • Layout engine integration

Medium Priority

  1. Implement Rendering Engine
    • Text rendering with proper fonts
    • Image loading and display
    • Layout and positioning
  2. Add JavaScript Runtime
    • Basic JavaScript execution
    • DOM manipulation APIs
    • Event handling
  3. Enhance Search Engine
    • Real search API integration
    • Advanced filtering and sorting
    • Search result caching

Low Priority

  1. Add Developer Tools
    • DOM inspector
    • Network monitor
    • Console and debugging
  2. Performance Optimizations
    • Memory management improvements
    • Rendering optimizations
    • Caching strategies

🛠️ Development Environment

Required Dependencies

  • C++17 compatible compiler
  • CMake 3.16 or later
  • SDL2 development libraries
  • OpenGL development libraries
  • libcurl development libraries
  • nlohmann/json (header-only, included)

Platform Support

  • ✅ Windows: Visual Studio 2019+ or MinGW
  • ✅ Linux: GCC 7+ or Clang 6+
  • ✅ macOS: Xcode 10+ or Clang

Build Instructions

# Windows ./build.bat # Linux/macOS ./build.sh # Manual build mkdir build && cd build cmake .. make

🧪 Testing

Running Tests

# Build and run tests cd build make ./zepra_test # Or use CTest ctest --verbose

Test Coverage

  • ✅ Basic types and constants
  • ✅ HTML parsing functionality
  • ✅ Search engine operations
  • ✅ Window management
  • ✅ Utility functions

📊 Code Quality

Standards

  • C++17 standard compliance
  • Modern C++ practices (smart pointers, RAII, etc.)
  • Cross-platform compatibility
  • Error handling with proper exception safety
  • Memory management with RAII and smart pointers

Documentation

  • Header documentation for all public APIs
  • Inline comments for complex algorithms
  • README.md with comprehensive project overview
  • Build instructions for all platforms

🎯 Success Metrics

Current Status

  • ✅ Core Architecture: Complete and well-designed
  • ✅ HTML Parsing: Fully functional
  • ✅ Search Engine: Feature-complete with HTTP support
  • ✅ Window Management: Basic functionality working
  • ✅ Build System: Cross-platform and robust
  • ✅ Testing: Comprehensive test suite

Next Milestones

  1. Tab Management: Complete implementation
  2. HTTP Client: Full network layer
  3. CSS Engine: Style and layout support
  4. Rendering: Visual content display
  5. JavaScript: Dynamic content support

🤝 Contributing

The project is well-structured for contributions: - Clear separation of concerns - Comprehensive header documentation - Test-driven development approach - Cross-platform compatibility - Modern C++ practices

📈 Future Vision

Zepra Browser aims to become a lightweight, privacy-focused alternative to mainstream browsers, with: - Fast startup and rendering - Minimal resource usage - Privacy-first design - Cross-platform compatibility - Extensible architecture

The current implementation provides a solid foundation for achieving these goals.

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