Editing XPCOM (section)

{{Short description|Component model}}
'''Cross Platform Component Object Model''' ('''XPCOM''') is a [[cross-platform]] [[Component-based software engineering|component model]] from [[Mozilla]]. It is similar to [[Component Object Model]] (COM), [[Common Object Request Broker Architecture]] (CORBA) and [[System Object Model|system object model]] (SOM). It features multiple [[language binding]]s and [[interface description language]] (IDL) descriptions, which allow programmers to plug their custom functions into the framework and connect them with other components.

The most notable use of XPCOM is within the [[Firefox]] web browser, where many internal components interact through XPCOM interfaces. Furthermore, Firefox used to allow [[Add-on (Mozilla)|add-ons]] extensive XPCOM access, but this was removed in 2017 and replaced with the less-permissive [[Browser extension#API conformity|WebExtensions API]].<ref>[https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/57.0/releasenotes/ Firefox 57 release notes]</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Future of Developing Firefox Add-ons|url=https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2015/08/21/the-future-of-developing-firefox-add-ons/|date=2015-08-21|author=Kev Needham|access-date=2018-04-02|website=blog.mozilla.org}}</ref> Two [[Fork (software development)|forks]] of Firefox still support XPCOM add-on capability: [[Pale Moon (web browser)|Pale Moon]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.palemoon.org/roadmap.shtml |title=Pale Moon future roadmap | access-date=2018-04-02 |publisher=[[Pale Moon (web browser)|Pale Moon]]}}</ref> and [[Basilisk (web browser)|Basilisk]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Pale Moon team releases first version of Basilisk browser|url=https://www.ghacks.net/2017/11/17/pale-moon-team-releases-first-version-of-basilisk-browser/|website=ghacks.net|date=2017-11-17|access-date=2018-04-02}}</ref>