How is this different from recording in Chrome Web Dev tools?
To be clear, I use both Chrome and Firefox for development but just to the surface level, so I'm probably missing the point here.
Firefox Replay
51–60 of 297 posts
Re: Firefox Replay
#52While Microsoft is making great effort towards opening, it is sad to see Firefox develop a feature working on Mac OS only. This is terrible because you might argue that this is the same as a feature working on Windows only, but Windows can run on different hardware manufacturer. This is like a double closing. I am on Linux and I will uninstall Firefox as a repercussion hoping it will have an impact. Too bad for the l…
This comment doesn't even make sense, as with a little digging you could've found this[0] information yourself:
"Windows port work is underway, but is not yet working. The difficulties are in figuring out the set of system library APIs to intercept, in getting the memory management and dirty memory parts of the rewind infrastructure to work, and in handling the different graphics and IPC pathways on different platforms."
In fact, their documentation makes a specific call-out to TTT (Time-Travel Debugging) on Windows; so, I suspect that this is the API that they would like to use but are unable to do so at present (presumably because many of the features are still lacking in the API, which Microsoft could - and most probably would - enable).
[0] - https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Projects/We...
Re: Firefox Replay
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Almost all implementation work so far has been on macOS. Windows port work is underway, but is not yet working. The difficulties are in figuring out the set of system library APIs to intercept, in getting the memory management and dirty memory parts of the rewind infrastructure to work, and in handling the different graphics and IPC pathways on different platforms.“ From https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozi…
It makes sense to start with OS X. Lots of front-end work is done on that platform. If you are targeting IOS or Safari, you pretty much need to be on OS X for testing.
More than Linux? Maybe that's a US thing.
Re: Firefox Replay
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Projects/We... > Currently only macOS is supported. As for why - no idea.
It's probably because its cheaper, and most web developers are using macOS anyway
https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2019#technology-_-...
Windows 47.5%
MacOS 26.8%
Linux-based 25.6%
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Total non-Macs: 73.1%Re: Firefox Replay
#55Ooooh wow. This might be enough to get me to use Firefox to develop with. This could be huge for its market share, a big part of the reason chrome was able to become so popular was because of how good its devtools were (compared to the competition at the time). Firefox definitely managed to catch up but not before lots of devs switched to chrome and stopped checking for compatibility with Firefox.
Do you really think the web developpers that use advanced dev tools can make a real difference in their market share? (real question)
Developers in general are very influential.
Not only among our family and friends, but also because our choices create a lock-in effect due to the nature of our work.
When you use Chrome day in and out, your work is going to be optimized for Chrome and will work best on Chrome. This led to a Chrome-optimized web and while Google isn't necessarily to blame, we're back to the days of "works best in IExplorer 6".
Companies and products that attract developers will eventually attract regular people as well. You could say that this is a chicken and egg problem, developers following the users, but with few exceptions (like the iPhone) in my experience thus far it's usually the developers that come first.
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It's worth mentioning that Chrome isn't popular only because of its technical excellence, but also because of Google's incessant marketing and bundling. But if we remember Microsoft and their declining browser market share, marketing and shoving your products down people's throats isn't enough. The product, especially if it's a platform, has to not suck and to be used by developers as well.
So yes, if other browsers like Firefox want to stay relevant and grow, a major requirement is to provide excellent developer tools.
Kudos to Mozilla for understanding that.
Re: Firefox Replay
#56While Microsoft is making great effort towards opening, it is sad to see Firefox develop a feature working on Mac OS only. This is terrible because you might argue that this is the same as a feature working on Windows only, but Windows can run on different hardware manufacturer. This is like a double closing. I am on Linux and I will uninstall Firefox as a repercussion hoping it will have an impact. Too bad for the l…
What a ridiculous over reaction.
* this is still open source. Fully open source.
* this is currently only available on MacOS
All that looks to have happened is the developers of this single feature that is in the nightly build are using Macs. It is wholly reasonable for them to only support one platform at this point. If it is a good feature they, or other devs attracted by this preview will port it.
Re: Firefox Replay
#57This is a pretty nice comment from the source that explains how it works: https://github.com/mozilla/gecko-dev/blob/11d9c7b7fa82fdfb8a... ``` // Recording and replaying works by controlling non-determinism in the browser: // non-deterministic behaviors are initially recorded, then later replayed // exactly to force the browser to behave deterministically. Two types of // non-deterministic behaviors are captured: intr…
What is non-determinism in the browser?
Re: Firefox Replay
#58This looks pretty good. Are there any other tools like this for different platforms? I'd be especially interested in something like this for the .NET ecosystem.
Re: Firefox Replay
#59This is a pretty nice comment from the source that explains how it works: https://github.com/mozilla/gecko-dev/blob/11d9c7b7fa82fdfb8a... ``` // Recording and replaying works by controlling non-determinism in the browser: // non-deterministic behaviors are initially recorded, then later replayed // exactly to force the browser to behave deterministically. Two types of // non-deterministic behaviors are captured: intr…
What is non-determinism in the browser?
Inputs that are either random or subject to change (api responses, user prompts i.e.)
Re: Firefox Replay
#60They should've put this note at the very top of the page:
"Mac OS only for now!".
What is the point of promoting this to everyone at this stage?