[whatwg] about rich internat applications

[Dean Edwards]

Didier PH Martin wrote:

> Here are the choices:
> 
> a) Implement something totally new in Mozilla and let it be alone in the
> woods to support its new feature.
> b) Embrace and expand. Implement behaviors in Mozilla and let people create
> components on both Mozilla and IE.
> 

thanks for starting this discussion didier.

dhtml behaviors and xbl aren't a million miles apart. basically they 
define extensions to existing elements. they also contain a bunch of 
code to implement these extensions. the only thing that is different is 
the markup. i've successfully ported microsoft dhtml behaviors to 
mozilla without conversion:
http://dean.edwards.name/moz-behaviors/
it is possible to do the reverse. it would be possible to define any 
components required by web forms in xbl. then transform them (possibly 
xslt) to dhtml behaviors. it would require a certain amount of 
discipline on behalf of the developer but the benefits are huge. one 
code set to maintain. another advantage is that the *actual* source code 
exists in xbl (an open source technology). this is probably easier said 
than done but it is definitely very doable.

-dean

ps is an *internat* caught in the world wide web??