-moz-binding and XBL

browser wars 2001 dead

Mozilla's mirror of IE's behavior property: a CSS rule that bolted XML-defined script components onto elements.

In 2026: Dead. XBL never worked in any other browser, powered most of Firefox's own interface for fifteen years, and was cut off from the web in 2017 after too many security holes. Gecko finished deleting it internally in 2019. Its good ideas resurfaced as shadow DOM and custom elements.

Where it came from: Mozilla's XML Binding Language, in Gecko from 2001. It never ran anywhere else. Wikipedia ↗

<style>
/* Mozilla's answer to IE's behavior: attach an XBL binding from CSS */
.fancy {
  -moz-binding: url(bindings.xml#roundedcorners);
}
</style>

<!-- bindings.xml held XML that mixed markup, script and style: -->
<!--
<binding id="roundedcorners">
  <content> ... anonymous content injected around the element ... </content>
  <implementation> ... methods and fields in JavaScript ... </implementation>
</binding>
-->

<div class="fancy">In 2001 Firefox this had script-built rounded corners.</div>

sandboxed demo · breaks nothing but itselfrestart

More in browser wars