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Places
======
This document describes the implementation of the Firefox Places component.
It is a robust system to manage History and Bookmarks through a database on the backend side and a model-view-controller system that connects frontend UI user manipulation.
History and Bookmarks
---------------------
In Firefox 2, History and Bookmarks used to be kept into separate databases in the Resource Description Framework format (`RDF format`_).
However, Firefox 3 implemented the Places system. It has been done due to multiple reasons, such as:
* **Performance**: certain search or maintenance operations were very slow
* **Reliability**: the filesystem facing side of RDF was not so robust, often causing corruption or unexpected states
* **Flexibility**: being able to cross data allows for interesting features, like the Awesome Bar
* **Maintainability**: the future of RDF was unclear, while SQLite is actively maintained and used by a large number of applications
Where to Start
--------------
For the high-level, non-technical summary of how History and Bookmarks works, read :doc:`nontechnical-overview`.
For more specific, technical details of implementation, read :doc:`architecture-overview`.
Governance
----------
See `Bookmarks & History (Places) </mots/index.html#bookmarks-history>`__
Table of Contents
-----------------
.. toctree::
:maxdepth: 2
nontechnical-overview
architecture-overview