Firebug 1.8.0 brings Firefox 5.0 support

The Firebug Working Group has released version 1.8.0 of Firebug, the first version of the web debugger that is fully compatible with Firefox 5. The developers say that they have focused on improving stability and performance, while still adding several feature enhancements.

Firebug 1.8.0 adds a new console.timeStamp() method; with the new API, developers can create time-stamps during JavaScript execution and compare them against HTTP traffic timing in the Net panel timeline. Local and remote IP addresses, as well as port numbers for each request, are displayed in the Net panel, and two new DOM panel options have been added: Show Own Properties Only and Show Enumerate Properties Only.

The new console.timeStamp() API lets developers create time-stamps during JavaScript execution and compare them to HTTP traffic timing Improvements have been made to the Script location list, command line content is now persistent across reloads, and HTML Previews can be adjusted via drag-and-drop. Other changes include internal architecture updates, new CSS panel colour tooltips, shortcuts for tweaking CSS values, and better support for external editors.

Last month, John Barton, a leading Firebug developer, announced that he would be withdrawing from development work after being unable to convince IBM, his previous employer, to support him for a further year. Barton has now joined Google's Chrome browser team and has said that, as most major browsers have or will soon have their own built-in debuggers, the future for Firebug is unclear.

Further information can be found in a post on the Firebug Development Blog, in the release notes and on the Firebug 1.8 New Features page on Mozilla Hacks. Firebug 1.8 is available to download from the project's web site and is released under the new BSD licence.

(crve)