Google created the V8 JavaScript engine for Chrome in 2008. V8 was developed as a high-performance engine to execute JavaScript in web pages and web applications, helping Chrome compete on speed when it launched.
V8 was first released on September 2, 2008, alongside Chrome’s initial public release. Its lead developer was Lars Bak, and the name “V8” was a reference to a powerful car engine—a fitting metaphor for the project’s emphasis on fast code execution. Unlike a browser itself, V8 is the component that interprets and compiles JavaScript.
V8 later became important far beyond Chrome. It is open-source software within the Chromium project and powers server-side runtimes including Node.js and parts of Deno. The distractors represent other engines: SpiderMonkey is associated with Firefox, JavaScriptCore with WebKit and Safari, and Chakra was developed for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Edge-era technologies.