While at linux.conf.au earlier this year, I started hacking on a Mandelbrot Set fractal renderer implemented in JavaScript as a way to polish my JS skills. In particular, I wanted to get to know the HTML5 Canvas and Worker APIs.

The results turned out pretty well. Click on the image below to try it out:

Clicking anywhere on the fractal will zoom in. You'll need to reload the page to zoom out. Zooming in while the fractal is still being rendered will interrupt the previous rendering job.

Recently I've been working on a Firefox extension, and needed a way to test the code. While testing code is always important, it is particularly important for dynamic languages where code that hasn't been run is more likely to be buggy.

I had not experience in how to do this for Firefox extensions, soEric suggested I try out Mozmill. which has been quite helpful so far. There were no Ubuntu packages for it, so I've put some together in my PPA for anyone interested: