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mozilla logogecko-dev

Read-only Git mirror of the Mercurial gecko repositories at https://hg.mozilla.org. How to contribute: https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/contributing/contribution_quickref.html

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Quick Overview

The mozilla/gecko-dev repository is the main development repository for the Gecko rendering engine, which is the core component of the Mozilla Firefox web browser. Gecko is an open-source web browser engine that powers various Mozilla products, including Firefox, Thunderbird, and others.

Pros

  • Cross-platform Compatibility: Gecko is designed to be cross-platform, supporting Windows, macOS, and Linux, allowing for a wide range of device compatibility.
  • Standards Compliance: Gecko aims to provide comprehensive support for the latest web standards, ensuring that web pages and applications render consistently across different browsers.
  • Extensibility: The Gecko engine is highly extensible, allowing developers to create add-ons and extensions that enhance the functionality of Mozilla products.
  • Active Development: The Gecko-dev repository is actively maintained by a large community of contributors, ensuring ongoing improvements and bug fixes.

Cons

  • Complexity: The Gecko engine is a complex and feature-rich system, which can make it challenging for new contributors to understand and contribute to the codebase.
  • Performance Concerns: While Gecko has improved over time, there are still some performance concerns, especially when compared to other modern browser engines.
  • Limited Mobile Support: Gecko's primary focus has been on desktop browsers, and its mobile support, while improving, is still not as robust as some of its competitors.
  • Dependency on Mozilla: As Gecko is tightly integrated with Mozilla's products, its development and roadmap are heavily influenced by the priorities and decisions of the Mozilla organization.

Code Examples

N/A (This is not a code library)

Getting Started

N/A (This is not a code library)

Competitor Comparisons

chromium logo

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The official GitHub mirror of the Chromium source

Pros of Chromium

  • Larger and more active community, with more frequent updates and contributions
  • Better performance and faster rendering on many websites
  • More extensive support for web standards and cutting-edge features

Cons of Chromium

  • Higher memory usage compared to Gecko-based browsers
  • Less focus on privacy features out-of-the-box
  • More complex codebase, which can be challenging for new contributors

Code Comparison

Chromium (JavaScript):

function createCallback(prototype, method) {
  return function(var_args) {
    return prototype[method].apply(this, arguments);
  };
}

Gecko (C++):

nsresult
nsDocumentViewer::Init(nsIWidget* aParentWidget,
                       const nsIntRect& aBounds)
{
  return InitInternal(aParentWidget, nullptr, aBounds);
}

Both repositories are large and complex, with different architectural approaches. Chromium uses a multi-process architecture, while Gecko employs a single-process model with out-of-process components. Chromium's codebase is primarily in C++ and JavaScript, whereas Gecko uses C++ extensively with some Rust integration. Chromium's development cycle is faster, with more frequent releases, while Gecko focuses on stability and long-term support. Both projects are open-source and have significant impact on web standards and browser technologies.

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Home of the WebKit project, the browser engine used by Safari, Mail, App Store and many other applications on macOS, iOS and Linux.

Pros of WebKit

  • Faster rendering performance, especially on Apple devices
  • Better support for modern web standards and CSS features
  • More frequent updates and releases

Cons of WebKit

  • Limited cross-platform support compared to Gecko
  • Smaller developer community and ecosystem
  • Less customization options for browser vendors

Code Comparison

WebKit (JavaScript engine, JavaScriptCore):

JSValue jsNumber(ExecState* exec, double d)
{
    return JSValue(JSValue::EncodeAsDouble, d);
}

Gecko (JavaScript engine, SpiderMonkey):

JS::Value JS::NumberValue(double d)
{
    return JS::DoubleValue(d);
}

Both code snippets show how each engine handles creating number values in JavaScript. WebKit's JavaScriptCore uses a more explicit encoding method, while Gecko's SpiderMonkey uses a simpler function call. This reflects differences in internal architecture and optimization strategies between the two engines.

chakra-core logo

ChakraCore

9,094

ChakraCore is an open source Javascript engine with a C API.

Pros of ChakraCore

  • Lightweight and focused: ChakraCore is a standalone JavaScript engine, making it more modular and easier to integrate into various projects
  • Cross-platform support: ChakraCore runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS, offering broader compatibility
  • Better performance for specific JavaScript workloads, particularly in Windows environments

Cons of ChakraCore

  • Smaller community and ecosystem compared to Gecko-dev
  • Less frequent updates and maintenance, as development has slowed down in recent years
  • Limited browser integration, primarily used in Microsoft Edge (legacy version)

Code Comparison

ChakraCore (JavaScript engine):

JsValueRef CALLBACK JSHostFunction(JsValueRef callee, bool isConstructCall, JsValueRef *arguments, unsigned short argumentCount, void *callbackState)
{
    // Host function implementation
}

Gecko-dev (Full browser engine):

nsresult
nsDocumentViewer::CreateDeviceContext(nsView* aView)
{
    // Device context creation for rendering
}

The code snippets highlight the difference in focus between the two projects. ChakraCore deals with JavaScript execution, while Gecko-dev encompasses broader browser functionality, including rendering and layout.

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Node.js JavaScript runtime ✨🐢🚀✨

Pros of Node.js

  • Lighter and more focused codebase, specifically for server-side JavaScript
  • Faster development cycle and more frequent releases
  • Larger ecosystem of packages and modules via npm

Cons of Node.js

  • Less comprehensive than Gecko-dev, which covers a full browser engine
  • Limited to JavaScript, while Gecko-dev supports multiple languages
  • Smaller contributor base compared to the Mozilla project

Code Comparison

Node.js (JavaScript):

const http = require('http');

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
  res.end('Hello World\n');
});

server.listen(3000);

Gecko-dev (C++):

#include "nsIInputStream.h"
#include "nsIOutputStream.h"

class nsHttpChannel : public nsIHttpChannel
{
public:
  NS_DECL_ISUPPORTS
  NS_DECL_NSIHTTPCHANNEL
};

The Node.js example shows a simple HTTP server, highlighting its focus on server-side JavaScript. The Gecko-dev snippet demonstrates a more complex, lower-level approach for handling HTTP channels in a browser engine.

electron logo

electron

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:electron: Build cross-platform desktop apps with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS

Pros of Electron

  • Easier to develop cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies
  • Faster development cycle for desktop apps compared to traditional native development
  • Large and active community with extensive documentation and resources

Cons of Electron

  • Larger application size due to bundling Chromium and Node.js
  • Generally higher memory usage compared to native applications
  • Potential security concerns due to the broader attack surface

Code Comparison

Gecko-dev (C++):

nsresult
nsDocShell::CreateAboutBlankContentViewer()
{
  // Create an about:blank content viewer
  nsCOMPtr<nsIContentViewer> viewer;
  nsresult rv = CreateContentViewer("text/html", nullptr, getter_AddRefs(viewer));
  if (NS_FAILED(rv)) {
    return rv;
  }

Electron (JavaScript):

app.on('ready', () => {
  const win = new BrowserWindow({ width: 800, height: 600 })
  win.loadURL('https://github.com')
})

app.on('window-all-closed', () => {
  if (process.platform !== 'darwin') {
    app.quit()
  }
})

The code snippets highlight the different approaches: Gecko-dev uses C++ for low-level browser operations, while Electron leverages JavaScript for creating desktop applications with web technologies.

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Servo, the embeddable, independent, memory-safe, modular, parallel web rendering engine

Pros of Servo

  • Written in Rust, offering improved memory safety and concurrency
  • Designed for parallel processing, potentially faster rendering
  • More modular architecture, easier to experiment with new features

Cons of Servo

  • Less mature and feature-complete compared to Gecko
  • Smaller community and ecosystem
  • Limited cross-platform support

Code Comparison

Servo (Rust):

fn layout_block(
    layout_context: &mut LayoutContext,
    tree_rank: TreeRank,
    containing_block: &ContainingBlock,
    parent_flow_ref: &FlowRef,
    fragment: &mut Fragment,
    quirks_mode: QuirksMode,
) -> FlowRef {
    // Layout implementation
}

Gecko (C++):

nsresult
nsBlockFrame::Reflow(nsPresContext*           aPresContext,
                     ReflowOutput&     aDesiredSize,
                     const ReflowInput& aReflowInput,
                     nsReflowStatus&          aStatus)
{
  // Reflow implementation
}

Both repositories are web browser engines, but Servo is a modern, experimental project focusing on parallelism and safety, while Gecko is a mature, production-ready engine used in Firefox. Servo's use of Rust offers potential performance and security benefits, but it lacks the extensive features and cross-platform support of Gecko. The code comparison shows Servo's more modern syntax and type system, while Gecko's C++ code reflects its longer history and established codebase.

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README

An explanation of the Firefox Source Code Directory Structure and links to project pages with documentation can be found at:

https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/contributing/directory_structure.html

For information on how to build Firefox from the source code and create the patch see:

https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/contributing/contribution_quickref.html

If you have a question about developing Firefox, and can't find the solution on https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/, you can try asking your question on Matrix at chat.mozilla.org in Introduction (https://chat.mozilla.org/#/room/#introduction:mozilla.org) channel.

Nightly development builds can be downloaded from:

https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/nightly/latest-mozilla-central/
        - or -
https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/channel/desktop/#nightly

Keep in mind that nightly builds, which are used by Firefox developers for testing, may be buggy.