Programming Firefox: Building Applications in the Browser

This is your guide to building Internet applications and user interfaces with the Mozilla component framework, which is best known for the Firefox web browser and Thunderbird email client. Programming Firefox demonstrates how to use the XML User Interface Language (XUL) with open source tools in the framework's Cross-Platform Component (XPCOM) library to develop a variety of projects, such as commercial web applications and Firefox extensions.

This book serves as both a programmer's reference and an in-depth tutorial, so not only do you get a comprehensive look at XUL's capabilities--from simple interface design to complex, multitier applications with real-time operations--but you also learn how to build a complete working application with XUL. If you're coming from a Java or .NET environment, you'll be amazed at how quickly large-scale applications can be constructed with XPCOM and XUL.

Topics in Programming Firefox include:

• An overview of Firefox technology
• An introduction to the graphical elements that compose a XUL application
• Firefox development tools and the process used to design and build applications
• Managing an application with multiple content areas
• Introduction to Resource Description Files, and how the Firefox interface renders RDF
• Manipulating XHTML with JavaScript
• Displaying documents using the Scalable Vector Graphics standard and HTML Canvas
• The XML Binding Language and interface overlays to extend Firefox
• Implementing the next-generation forms interface through XForms