I built my first Firefox build last night!

So in an effort to learn more about programming I've decided to explore contributing to the Mozilla.org Firefox browser.

Mind you this is an exploration at this point not a commitment.  Its possible this is beyond me at the moment? But I believe in setting goals .. stretching myself. Learning things I know nothing about .. that way I'll know something right?

I also strongly believe in open source projects and have benefited from them for many years in my life. I would very much like to give back and Firefox has been my favorite browser for many years.  It sort of competes with Chrome nowadays .. not because Chrome is so fantastic but because Firefox changes so fast I some times feel like I don't know where my stuff is?

So last night I downloaded my first nightly build and all the pre-requisites and was able to compile and launch my first nightly build.

I suppose its not much of an accomplishment but I feel good about it. Having actually done this much feels meaningful to me and encourages me to go farther.

At this time my planned contribution will be in the C++ code area.  As I taught myself C++ this year I want to really get my head fully immersed in it. I want challenges.

Sure I figured out how to write several games and publish them on iOS and PC .. that is freaking AWESOME.

But I'm not stopping at that. I want more! I want to learn more!

Firefox will make me learn stuff I didn't even known existed is my thought .. and I'm really looking forward to it.

I hope to blog more about my experiences exploring on Firefox in the future.