Ajax, the popular term for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is one of the most important combinations of technologies for web developers to know these days. With its rich grouping of technologies, Ajax developers can create interactive web applications with XML-based web services, using JavaScript in the browser to process the web server response.

Taking complete advantage of Ajax, however, requires something more than your typical "how-to" book. What it calls for is Ajax Hacks from O'Reilly. This valuable guide provides direct, hands-on solutions that take the mystery out of Ajax's many capabilities. Each hack represents a clever way to accomplish a specific task, saving you countless hours of searching for the right answer.

A smart collection of 80 insider tips and tricks, Ajax Hacks covers all of the technology's finer points. Want to build next-generation web applications today? This book can show you how. Among the multitude of topics addressed, it shows you techniques for:

• Using Ajax with Google Maps and Yahoo Maps
• Displaying Weather.com data
• Scraping stock quotes
• Fetching postal codes
• Building web forms with auto-complete functionality

Ajax Hacks also features a number of advanced hacks for accelerated web developers. Discover how to create huge, maintainable bookmarklets, how to use client-side storage for Ajax applications, and how to call a built-in Java object from JavaScript using Ajax. The book even addresses best practices for testing Ajax applications and improving maintenance, performance, and reliability for JavaScript code.

The latest in O"Reilly's celebrated Hacks series, Ajax Hacks smartly complements other O'Reilly titles such as Head Rush Ajax and JavaScript: The Definitive Guide.

Need Help from Author,  April 27 2007
Submitted by pannet1   [Respond | View]

I would say the book is of excellent help. Since it involves lot of technologies there would be certain areas which might not be of interest to all.

Firstly, I am little bit dissappointed with the Java and Ruby Server side code which have just filled pages. It would have been great if we had more ajax hacks instead of them. Different editions with respect to specific server side scripts may help Oreilly to sell more books with slight modifications.

Secondly, there is no where to go for help with the examples that are not running as expected. It will be great if we got all the examples running in the parkerriver website.

Thirdly, in general there is nowhere to ask questions regarding the book. The email id provided in the book, bookquestions at oreilly dot com, is returning my mail saying its spam. I have tried to send the mail with two different ids. I place to ask for help (forum, blog, etc) will be very useful.

Hope this helps.




Nice Hacks - Where's the Server Side?,  January 11 2007
Submitted by Charlene   [Respond | View]

I have been reading this book and find it fairly informative on Ajax, but useless. Unless I want to spend hours figuring out how to do the server side of the hack I can't use any of the ones I've read so far - I've just finished 17. Hack #7 shows how to create the JSON response on the server in a Java servlet, but that is only mildly useful.

I can see that it would be a little bit more work and a larger book to include the server side programs. And then having to decide which language to use...

I would suggest a companion series of books for the server side programming - one for each language - ASP, PHP, Perl, Java, Ruby, etc. And after the PHP one is out then I'll consider finishing Ajax Hacks.


Needs editor.,  November 14 2006
Submitted by PerlKnitter   [Respond | View]

I'll admit I'm barely started on this. And, so far, the hacks work. But I am having troubles reading it because of minor editorial problems. Hopefully, this won't come across as whining, but considering the professionalism that you usually find in O'Reilly books, this was disappointing. So three examples and you can move on to the other glowing reviews.

First, a minor complaint about style. I am use to moving from project to project and having to adapt to a new style guide for the code. Which is fine. But this seems to be lacking any style in places. Consistent use of white space is mostly what I noticed. Not a big deal, but something that you notice when you type in the examples. Something that an editor should have caught.

Second was the naming of code snippets. Hack #4's HTML references hack3.js. So flip back to Hack #3. Hmm, no, this one is called http_request.js. Then you realize that hack3.js is in Hack #4. So, give the author the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just wanted to keep the scripts in numerical order and 3 was the next one in line. But then Hack #5 bursts that moment of optimisim by having hack9.js. Hack #6 jumps back to hack4.js. Editor, please?

Finally, there is the previously mentioned http_request.js in Hack #3. This has a couple of nice fuctions that we will be using in future hacks. Modularity is good. But then, at least for the next few hacks, it is not used. Instead you find for the sake of brevity, please see first or second hack for these functions. It seems like it would be even briefer to use the module already built for this purpose.

Buy the book. Just be prepared for a bit of disappointment if you are more detailed oriented.



Good but lacking something fundamental,  October 25 2006
Submitted by Mark   [Respond | View]

I find this book very good with the useful hacks but this book never discuss the server side of these hacks. The example code in the book just points to a website to retrieve information for the AJAX hacks but there is no discussion of how to build the server side components. For novices, that is very important information to know and to learn from.


Review of "Ajax Hacks",  April 27 2006
Submitted by Val   [Respond | View]

If you believe in a better, faster and friendlier web, you have certainly jumped onto the Ajax bandwagon or at least considered doing it at some point. For over a year now, web evangelists have published countless articles, tutorials and books about Ajax (and by-products thereof). You have certainly bookmarked a host of websites and pages talking about this new approach to developing web applications. You also have probably piled up an ever growing stack of various items, such as frameworks, scripts, patterns, effects, that you have yet to check out and try. Given the rate at which new Ajax libraries and frameworks are born and the pace at which they mature, you find yourself wondering where to start your quest, if at all.

"Ajax Hacks" by Bruce Perry can considerably help you lift the weight off your shoulders. By means of not less than eighty hacks, Perry shows you well-chosen points of interest in the Ajax landscape whose purpose is to help you create your own unique path to the Ajax heaven. The book first shows you the basics of Ajax interactions. Then, it explains how to play around with web forms and validate user input efficiently. After demonstrating how to get advantage from using the Google and Yahoo Maps APIs, it introduces a couple frameworks and libraries, such as Rico, Prototype, script.aculo.us and DWR and explains how to take advantage of the features they provide in an efficient way. A couple hacks also detail how to handle the browser history, how to use bookmarklets, how to build client-side caches and storage system. The author also introduces the Ajax support provided by the Ruby on Rails framework, and finishes the book with a dozen hacks showing advanced uses of Ajax, such as using RSH, fixing the back button, calling web services from JavaScript, creating an autocomplete text field and much more...

Whether a novice or an expert, if you consider adopting Ajax or if you are willing to consolidate your current Ajax knowledge with new tricks, "Ajax Hacks" is definitely a book for you. Easy to read and comprehend, simple to browse, accessible to anyone... a must have!!

More book reviews and article are available here (http://radio.javaranch.com/val)