Java and Mozilla: Two Platforms
Java is much more than a language. Mozilla is much more than a browser.
Both are platforms, everyone knows that. But Mozilla and Java are not very
often compared to each other as such: platforms. Mozilla would certainly
have a lot to learn from Java and (most importantly IMHO) Java would have a
lot to learn from Mozilla.
Benefits and Drawbacks
Some thoughts that came to my mind during Michael Ang talk on Mozilla at the
SVLUG:
- Java rules:
- Avoid "crashing" Mozilla when a component does not implement the
interface expected by a client.
- Introduce granular security model in Mozilla (no, all-or-nothing
is not granular enough).
- Packaging in XPI: why require to restart Mozilla when a
new component is installed? why can't packaged be uninstalled?
- Mozilla rules:
- Much harder to write UI in Java. No descriptive language
like XUL for Swing.
- See for instance how simple it is to write a component browser
(kind of equivalent to a JNDI tree browser with interface
explorer - something that would be nice to have, BTW).
- No Web-based UI framework. For simple (typically
administrative) tasks, the UI of the WebLogic console would
be fine. Do they have a framework for that?
