Mozilla

Here are some XUL clippings that show different uses of theelement. The purpose of this post is not to show off uses of, but to point out that it can be used in XUL (Firefox extensions and XULRunner applications) very easily.

WPF is the coolest thing an MFC programmer has ever seen. Of course, developers who have been working with declarative markups (HTML, SVG, XUL or Laszlo) and RAD form builders (Delphi and VB) are not hyperventilating. Sure, its nice that Microsoft has introduced a development platform that is actually easy to use, but such platforms have been around a while. Now, WPF/E is ready to take rich internet application (RIA) development by storm. Its not the first (XUL, Flash, Flex and Laszlo are not betas), but Microsoft’s entry is not to be taken lightly.

I thought I’d pull together some simple XUL examples you could load into XUL Explorer. It might help you get started using XUL Explorer. It may also help first-timers begin to see how XUL can be used to create a UI. Sometimes starting from scratch can be a hurdle.

A large part of my job at Mozilla is trying to make life easier for extension developers. In order to do my best, I need to understand the pains of extension developers. Up to now, I have been writing various types of extensions myself (sidebars, statusbars and components) to try to understand what an extension developer goes through. I even download extensions just to look at the code, trying to find comments like “hack” or “sucks”. But really, that’s not enough. So now I am asking extension developers directly:

I received a lot of feedback on XUL Explorer. It’s been a great learning experience for me as well. Here is a list of changes:

Starting to learn a new platform can be daunting. Especially, when it is as big as the Mozilla platform. The XUL tutorial and reference were exactly what I needed to start learning. However, I quickly found myself wanting to experiment with little XUL snippets just to see what they looked like at runtime. Or, I’d want to try applying some CSS to the elements. I decided to build a XULRunner application that provided a simple way to experiment with XUL. It also gave me a good hands-on project I could use to really start learning the platform.

If you’re new to Firefox extension or XULRunner programming, one of the first things you may want to do is find a good tutorial to help get a “hello world” project bootstrapped. Mozilla Developer Center (MDC) has more than a few to help you get started: Firefox Sidebar, Firefox Statusbar, XULRunner Application. We are working to get more on the way too.