The drawback to this is that just like Wireshark, the protocol layer traces of requests and responses are intermixed. Firebug will only show you the requests/responses/data applicable to the page you are currently viewing. Again, this is a mixed bag of goodness - it certainly helps for debugging and viewing specific pages, but you have to relaunch Firebug every time you want to view a page and in admittedly limited cases where you're debugging specific interactions with a site, you have to "repost/reget" the data, which could be problematic when you're trying to recreate a specific problem for debugging purposes or you run into while testing, especially if multiple tabs/windows are involved. In this respect, HttpFox appears to be a better choice as you can start it and it will continue to monitor the flow across tabs, windows, and requests without interruption.
Also slightly annoying is that the capturing of network layer data requires you to start the Net monitoring for the page separately. HttpFox automatically captures this data as part of the analysis process. On the flip side, Firebug does a much better job of visually representing the time to load individual components in a page, with HttpFox presenting the load times in a fashion similar to Wireshark, i.e. text based only.
Where Firebug really appears to shine is in its ability to dig into content. In addition to being able to view headers, cookies, query strings, and post content, Firebug lets you dig into the DOM, Javascript functions, stylesheets, and even Flash objects. If it's an object on the page, you can dive in as deep as you want and in a format that makes sense. Not only do you see the requests in nearly raw form, you can see them formatted as they would be in the page. HttpFox displays content, but it's not separated out by type nor does it provide a visual mechanism for viewing the source or traversing through a DOM.
| HttpFox: Elegance through simplicity | Firebug: Making the complex visually appealing |
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CONCLUSION
If you need to be able to dig into layout issues, into Javascript problems, or traverse the DOM, then Firebug is definitely the way to go. If you're looking for a simple but elegant tool for tracking requests and associated protocol layer information, then HttpFox will more than adequately serve your needs. Both offer the basics and do so well.
HttpFox beats Firebug in its own UI design, in the way it easily lays out protocol layer information and associates them with requests, but it can't compare to Firebug's ability to dig deeply into content.
For me, I'm sticking with HttpFox because it suits my needs. But I definitely see the value of Firebug, and the next time I need a tool for debugging content issues, I'll certainly start-up Firebug instead.
