Take a look at this

[MadGamer]

Right i have just thought of an idea... im going to build a new version of firefox. Yes thats right you heard me im going to build a new version of firefox. All i need to know is what can i use instead of M$ Visio? Is it just a case of me using the following tools?

Notepad
Command Prompt

and additional tools downloaded from the Mozilla website.

WNA

[paulyoung666]

go for it , unless you play you will never get anywhere , just dont ask me to beta test it for you , only kidding , go for it

[Chris W]

Just out of interest... what are you going to change/ add to the current version of firefox?

good luck with it though we wouldn't have got anywhere without developers!

MB

[philip.j.fry]

Good plan mate, I always build my software from source and definately feel I have a performance boost with firefox from doing so.

I'm not sure that you will find it all that easy to build with Visual Studio, but there's a guide here for doing so. I don't know much about compiler optimisations with VC++ and they may not be available. Using GCC (windows port is called dgjpp) might be a better idea. You'll also need all of the usual GNU tools like Make etc. If you want I can give you the list of configure options I used for me build.

Edit: Sorry, I misread, you wanted without MSVC++, then you'll probably wany Cygwin. The other alternative is to install a Linux distro with a cross-compiler installed (note you can still build for windows platforms in this way)

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by WNA

Right i have just thought of an idea... im going to build a new version of firefox. Yes thats right you heard me im going to build a new version of firefox. All i need to know is what can i use instead of M$ Visio? Is it just a case of me using the following tools?

Notepad
Command Prompt

and additional tools downloaded from the Mozilla website.

WNA

What programming skills do you have? If the answer is "none" you'd be better off starting with something a little less ambitious, don't try to run before you can echo "hello world";

[philip.j.fry]

Originally Posted by Bifta

What programming skills do you have? If the answer is "none" you'd be better off starting with something a little less ambitious, don't try to run before you can echo "hello world";

I disagree, it's not a complicated build, as long as WNA encounters no compilation errors (like me...nightmare) he'll be fine.

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by philip.j.fry

I disagree, it's not a complicated build, as long as WNA encounters no compilation errors (like me...nightmare) he'll be fine.

Without wanting to sound rude, but he mentioned using Visio, probably not the best start comparing a Microsoft flowcharting/process planning tool to a compiler. I think he'd be better off practicing compiling something simple.

[Dave Stones]

hello world in DOS pascal and then on to delphi was where i started. i managed to build a fully functional database system using said program after 2 years of A level computing...

personally i think you are mad to try and rebuild a browser from the ground up, but there we go

[Caspar]

I've done nearly every programming language you can think of over the years and to be honest, I don't see the point in building a browser, what do you expect to achieve?

Is there more relevant projects you can do? I'd suggest building a real world development system, something in eCommerce or at least building a dynamic web application... such as a Content Management System that builds and maintain websites...

but that's me not you and I appreciate and respect you have your reasons

what exactly do you mean by "build another version" ?

[Paul K]

Why not start small and de-bug windows ME instead

[philip.j.fry]

I don't think he means 'building a browser from the ground up'. All he will be doing is compiling already existing source code, at the most basic level he can do this by installing all of the needed tools and then typing:

configure
make
make install (optional)

Unless I am mistaken and he wants to hack the source in which case he'll need some good programming skills, otherwise just building the source requires zero programming knowledge.

[MadGamer]

The thing im having trouble with already is that it wants the mozilla.org directory and i only have Firefox. Now im gonna take your suggestions and start small. Could you give me some suggestions on what i can do and what tools i need.

see - you are all cynics, at heart, and maybe failing to seize the initiative

- there's enough debate about 'who's browsers the best' - why don't we help WNA build a version.

<edit before submit> I see philip.j.fry has already said what i would have, if I knew what I was talking about D

[philip.j.fry]

Originally Posted by WNA

The thing im having trouble with already is that it wants the mozilla.org directory and i only have Firefox. Now im gonna take your suggestions and start small. Could you give me some suggestions on what i can do and what tools i need.

Could you explain what it is you want to do exactly. Do you want to just compile firefox from source code without making any modifications to said source, or do you actually want to make a whole new browser based on firefox/gecko?

If what you want is to learn some programming language, choose which one first (either Java or C++ are good) then find a good online guide or book.