Firefox 11 brings new dev tools

The latest release of Firefox for Mac, Windows and Linux offers a number of new developer tools that are designed to make it easier to visualise web page elements.

The first of these tools is unique to Firefox. Dubbed the Page Inspector 3D View, but nicknamed 'Tilt', this WebGL-based visualisation tool tilts the web page and presents it as a stepped 3D structure. According to Mozilla, this innovation "highlights the structure of a page better than a flat view, so anyone can immediately understand the relationship of the code to the page output". Mozilla added that although 'view source' commands have always been useful to help people learn about how to develop web pages, the 3D View "more clearly illustrates how the parts of a website are structured".

Although Tilt isn't just eye candy (you can, for example, hover your mouse over the elements to get more information about them), traditionally oriented developers will perhaps be more interested in Firefox 11's other new tools. The Style Editor enables developers to edit CSS like in a text editor and instantly see changes in the browser. "It's a quick and easy way to iterate and test designs on a website. Once changes are made, the Firefox Style Editor provides a simple way to save the file to your computer," said Mozilla. And there's also the new Add-on Sync, which provides you with the option to sync add-ons between computers. According to Mozilla, this will "allow for a seamless experience across Firefox at work and at home".