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Firefox's integrated Developer Tools not much useful as Firebug is. Also too heavy.

  • 4 replies
  • 8 have this problem
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  • Last reply by John99

topgun743
topgun743
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Hi Guys, My machine is Windows 10 Pro. For last 2, 3 weeks I have been using Firefox's integrated Developer Tools instead of my (almost a decade long company with) Firebug. But sorry to say I do not understand why Firebug, undoubtedly the best debugging tool for web development, has been put to deprecation altogether. Weird, because the Developer Tools UI provided by Firefox is lot lot confusing compared to Firebug.

For instance, the Console Tab in new Developer Tools (take a look at Pic 1), I do not understand which sub tab and/or its dropdown options should I use for simple Error/Warning/XHR based logging. This is very easy in Firebug but now in Firefox Developer tools its literally a hell. There are Errors/Warnings options under .Net, JS, Security, Logging and Server sub tabs. But can't exactly guess from UI which ones to enable and which ones to disable in order to stay away from plethora of unwanted logging mess showing in Console.

Compare it with my Firebug snap (see pic 2), its clearly much simpler or at least its default options regarding logging are much easier to understand. Just yesterday using Firefox Developer Tools, I was working on my task related to use of javascript Promises. I committed the task after completion and our QA reported then that they are having lots of weird warnings/errors showing up on their console because they were using Firebug still, whereas I was using Firefox Developer Tools. I checked out and found that because those warnings/errors were not showing on my side, I unknowingly skipped them, causing a faulty build committed.

I later reinstalled Firebug and resolved my issue however.... sorry can't go with my confusion state for long.

Also I have noticed that when I open Developer Tools window it causes my system to be heavy and sort of being hanged after about 2, 3 hours of debugging javascript code. Using Task Manager on my Windows system I then have to make use of 'End Task' to get rid of this weird Firefox hogging my memory. It starts with around 300 MB at start, OK but after 2, 3 hours it goes on taking up to 2 GB making my machine much slower and unresponsive ultimately.

Now I request you guys not to shutdown our beloved Firebug or at least keep its UI same in your Developer Tools. Plus request to make your Developer Tools lighter performance-wise as for now its just like a Titanic.

Enough said. I hope you guys will take notice. Thanks

Faisal M. Senior Software Engineer

Hi Guys, My machine is Windows 10 Pro. For last 2, 3 weeks I have been using Firefox's integrated Developer Tools instead of my (almost a decade long company with) Firebug. But sorry to say I do not understand why Firebug, undoubtedly the best debugging tool for web development, has been put to deprecation altogether. Weird, because the Developer Tools UI provided by Firefox is lot lot confusing compared to Firebug. For instance, the Console Tab in new Developer Tools (take a look at Pic 1), I do not understand which sub tab and/or its dropdown options should I use for simple Error/Warning/XHR based logging. This is very easy in Firebug but now in Firefox Developer tools its literally a hell. There are Errors/Warnings options under .Net, JS, Security, Logging and Server sub tabs. But can't exactly guess from UI which ones to enable and which ones to disable in order to stay away from plethora of unwanted logging mess showing in Console. Compare it with my Firebug snap (see pic 2), its clearly much simpler or at least its default options regarding logging are much easier to understand. Just yesterday using Firefox Developer Tools, I was working on my task related to use of javascript Promises. I committed the task after completion and our QA reported then that they are having lots of weird warnings/errors showing up on their console because they were using Firebug still, whereas I was using Firefox Developer Tools. I checked out and found that because those warnings/errors were not showing on my side, I unknowingly skipped them, causing a faulty build committed. I later reinstalled Firebug and resolved my issue however.... sorry can't go with my confusion state for long. Also I have noticed that when I open Developer Tools window it causes my system to be heavy and sort of being hanged after about 2, 3 hours of debugging javascript code. Using Task Manager on my Windows system I then have to make use of 'End Task' to get rid of this weird Firefox hogging my memory. It starts with around 300 MB at start, OK but after 2, 3 hours it goes on taking up to 2 GB making my machine much slower and unresponsive ultimately. Now I request you guys not to shutdown our beloved Firebug or at least keep its UI same in your Developer Tools. Plus request to make your Developer Tools lighter performance-wise as for now its just like a Titanic. Enough said. I hope you guys will take notice. Thanks Faisal M. Senior Software Engineer
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All Replies (4)

dario.be
dario.be
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You can activate the Firebug Theme in the settings of Firefox Developer Tools for a little bit of nostalgia.

Of course the integrated debugging tools will be greatly improved upon. If you cannot wait that long, you could try and install an older version of Firefox where you can still use Firebug (even though it is not recommended).

Using old versions of Firefox poses a significant security risk.

John99
John99
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Even though you may have already discovered the documents & tutorials in MDN, these may be a handy links for other readers of the thread

topgun743
topgun743 Question owner
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dario.bloch said

You can activate the Firebug Theme in the settings of Firefox Developer Tools for a little bit of nostalgia. Of course the integrated debugging tools will be greatly improved upon. If you cannot wait that long, you could try and install an older version of Firefox where you can still use Firebug (even though it is not recommended). Using old versions of Firefox poses a significant security risk.

Actually the purpose of my post is to ask Firefox team to make it User friendly amap like Firebug is. I mean its better to remove the unnecessary complexity in UI.

John99
John99
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topgun743, Sorry no Firefox Developers here, only fellow Firefox users.

Obviously tools with many and complex features need a method of accessing those features and that tends to require a more complicated UI. The tools do include options to enable or disable individual tools, which simplifies the UI.

You may find somewhere on the Mozilla fora|groups|mailing lists to where it is on topic to discuss this subject for instance

If you do start another thread in a Mozilla Forum, feel free to add a link to it in this Thread.