Is NPAPI Still a Viable Option for Developing Browser Plugins?

Developing Browser Plugins: A Comprehensive Guide

Brent A. Mills once pointed out the "three categories of add-ons: Extensions, Applications, and Plugins." Of these three, plugins are the most robust. They are essentially mini-programs that interact with the browser, providing additional functionality.

Creating browser plugins for popular browsers like Chrome, Safari, and Opera involves working with the Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI).

Is NPAPI Still Viable?

While NPAPI was once the standard, it is important to note that Firefox and Chrome will soon default most plugins to click-to-play, and Chrome plans to phase out NPAPI entirely. Therefore, using NPAPI for new projects is discouraged.

Essential Resources for NPAPI

• MDC plugin section
• Three-part NPAPI tutorial
• Memory management in NPAPI
• npsimple - the "Hello World" of NPAPI plugins
• npapi-sdk - the source for the canonical NPAPI headers
• Mozilla's test plugin - useful for specific NPAPI use cases

Tools and Frameworks to Assist in Development

While NPAPI is relatively low-level, there are tools and frameworks that simplify the process:

• FireBreath: Cross-browser, cross-platform framework for plugins
• Nixysa: Generates glue code for NPAPI plugins
• JUCE: Application framework with plugin support
• QtBrowserPlugin: Qt-based browser plugin framework

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