how puppeteer can automate firefox even though firefox is not based on chromium

Puppeteer primarily interacts with Chromium-based browsers, such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge (Chromium version), through the DevTools Protocol (CDP), which is specific to Chromium-based browsers. However, for non-Chromium browsers like Firefox, Puppeteer does not directly control them. Instead, there is an alternative library called puppeteer-firefox (formerly known as puppeteer-firefox) that enables Puppeteer-like functionality for Firefox.

How Puppeteer Controls Firefox:

1. puppeteer-firefox Library:

   • puppeteer-firefox is a community-maintained project that provides a Puppeteer-like API for Firefox.
   • It uses Firefox's own remote debugging protocol (similar to CDP in Chromium) to control and interact with the browser.

2. Remote Debugging Protocol:

   • Firefox provides a remote debugging protocol (often referred to as Firefox DevTools Protocol or FDP) that allows external tools to control its behavior.
   • puppeteer-firefox leverages this protocol to send commands to Firefox and receive responses, similar to how Puppeteer interacts with Chromium-based browsers via CDP.

3. Compatibility and Features:

   • While puppeteer-firefox aims to provide a similar API surface as Puppeteer, not all features of Puppeteer may be fully supported or behave identically in Firefox due to differences in browser architecture and feature sets.
   • Developers using puppeteer-firefox should check its documentation and updates for specific compatibility and feature details.

Differences and Considerations:

• Browser-Specific Differences: Firefox and Chromium have different underlying architectures and feature implementations. This can lead to variations in behavior and performance when using Puppeteer or puppeteer-firefox.

• Puppeteer API Compatibility: While puppeteer-firefox tries to maintain API compatibility with Puppeteer, some methods or options may behave differently or may not be available due to browser-specific differences.