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A bit of nostalgia: I created an application based on XULRunner at the end of high school. The project started out as a Firefox Extension, and since I wanted to
by Lukas_Skywalker 7y ago
A bit of nostalgia: I created an application based on XULRunner at the end of high school. The project started out as a Firefox Extension, and since I wanted to create a standalone application, XULRunner was the obvious choice. I didn't know much programming, but it was, coupled with the excellent documentation on MDN, enough to get me started. What I remember best are the following few things:
- XULRunner had an included application update mechanism. You basically created a diff between two application versions and placed that on a server. XULRunner would automatically detect it and apply it. No configuration needed. This was huge.
- XULRunner obviously had a built-in browser. Using a few XML elements, you could embed a browser view.
- Porting from a Firefox extension to a standalone application was very easy. Add some boilerplate and you are done. Pretty much no need to change the application code.
- Since my application didn't include any native code, it was automatically cross platform. And it integrated beautifully into all platforms.
- war1025 7y agoWhat was the application for? Just curious
- Lukas_Skywalker 7y agoMusic. You could search for music, and the application would search a few mp3 sites for the track and play it automatically. Also, if the built-in browser detected music files or links embedded in the page, a bar popped up from the bottom offering to play the music.
- ticktockten 7y agoCool, I actually used XULRunner for a cross-platform application! The tooling was great, and it did set the precedent for what we expect today.