Fireday - Firefox extensions for August 4, 2006

Friday, August 04, 2006 4:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0 | View blog reactions

This week: Leak Extension Monitor, QuickJava, and Codetch Editor.

Wow! It's a scorcher this week. High was 98 here in Columbus. One sign said 101, but I didn't believe it. :-) Let's cool down with some extensions.

Leak Extension Monitor

When developers create their Firefox extensions, the Leak Extension Monitor is almost a requirement before distributing it over the Internet. However, this extension is not to be used for end-users at all. The only reason end-users would be interested in this extension would be to view and uninstall other Firefox extensions, which cause memory leaks.

For those who don't know what a memory leak is, a memory leak is when a developer allocates an object in memory and then doesn't release the object from memory. If a programmer calls this function once, you'll have one memory leak, but if the programmer calls that function more than once, then you have the Firefox bloat in the Task Manager that eats up memory faster than a hungry person at a buffet.

Anyway, back to the extension. Installation was easy and took no time at all to start. Now the drawbacks.

If you visit any Google sites or Google service, this will be a constant iritation, because the dialog box keeps popping up regarding memory leaks. After a while, it became an annoyance more than a help, but again, only use the extension when developing. Its not for end-users unless you think your Firefox has memory leaks in your installed extensions.

One recommendation to the author is to create a status bar toggle button to turn the Leak Extension Monitor on or off. However, I have enough on my status bar as it is, but this would still be a welcome addition when the extension is not needed.

Rating: 3/5

QuickJava

Here's a quick review. For those who turn JavaScript and Java on/off through the Tools/Options/Content tab, QuickJava is the extension for you because of the immediate disabling of executing code on a web site.

The QuickJava is a simple extension to allow immediate access to turning the Java/JavaScript on and off. The extension puts two indicators on the status bar. The 'J' is for Java, and the 'JS' is for JavaScript. Clicking on one toggles it on or off.

When I installed it, there were no problems at all and it functioned just as well as going into the Tools/Options/Content tab and setting it there. Overall, a very simple extension for a very simple problem.

Rating: 5/5

Codetch Editor

As I keep reviewing extensions, there are times when I install an extension and its like a life-changing experience. Well, not really, but extensions similar to the Venkman's JavaScript Debugger is an example of what I'm talking about. It has its own IDE. I'll repeat that. The extension has its own IDE. Just Awesome!

The Codetch Editor extension is similar to the JavaScript debugger. The Codetch Editor extension is an HTML editor in an extension. Once the extension is installed (which installed with no problems I might add), you can bring up the IDE in a tab or float it with CTRL-F9.

When the IDE comes up, you immediately get a file explorer on the left with two collapsed panels; one is Snippits and the other panel is your bookmarks. The main window in the center is your editor and the bottom panel contains your familiar JavaScript error panel. The main window contains five tabs on the bottom: Code, Preview, Reference, Code and Preview, and Code and Reference.

If you are a beginning webmaster (is that term still used?) and are looking for a simple way to create web pages without investing a lot of money into an authoring tool, the Codetch Editor extension can provide you the basics of a HTML editor for prototyping a site. Granted, its not a Visual Studio 2005, but then again, it gets the job done. It can even be done remotely. :-)

A question for the authors of this extension: I'm wondering if any future enhancements will be added to this extension.

The Codetch Editor is definitely one of the best, if not the only, extension for editing HTML pages and this extension easily gets a 5/5 rating.

Rating: 5/5

Let me know if you have any comments about the reviews, jot them down in the Chatterbox below, or contact me directly.

Until next week.

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