Hacking Firefox Boot Camp

Gearing up to hack Mozilla Firefox is as simple as understanding some basic Internet browser features,installing some tools,and being able to find files on your computer system.Then it gets just a tad more complicated. This chapter starts things off by discussing the different methods for hacking Firefox that are covered in this book and how things will progress. Try not to get bogged down with the onslaught of topics that are covered here, because many of them are covered in depth throughout the book.

If you understand some basic web programming tools, such as CSS, JavaScript, and XML, you are one step ahead of the game. Conversely, if you are not well versed in these technologies, you will find plenty of examples and references to guide you along your hack training.

First, we cover some of the key tools you should use to get an edge when hacking Firefox.Tools covered include the Document Inspector,basic text editors,and JavaScript Console. A good portion of this chapter helps you find your personalized Firefox settings in your Profile directory and then highlights the key features of most of the files.As you continue to read this book, you will tap into many of the key components of your profile.Then we will approach the different methods of hacking the browser using some of the functionality included with the browser,such as about:config and the JavaScript Console. Finally, youíll learn the basics of changing your preferences and interface by manually hacking the prefs.js,user.js,

userChrome.css, and userContent.css files.After getting all your gear, you will begin your quest to understand the core technologies involved in hacking just about every aspect of Mozilla Firefox.