Chapter 1. Getting Ready to Make a Move to Ajax
Ajax brings a whole new level of feedback and flexibility to web applications. Gone, or at least pushed gently aside, are the days when web page forms produced a result only after being submitted to a server. Gone also are static web pages of frozen HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) that could be read, but were unresponsive to the page reader's actions. Nowadays, web page developers can provide, directly within the page, much of the same functionality that used to require a round trip to the server.
Using Ajax, page components can be collapsed or expanded as required, populated on demand, and feedback to the user can range from a color fade to a system of strategically placed messages. Every element of the page can be used to make web service requests, thus creating more responsive pages and less frustration for the users. The end result is a sharper, tighter application.
Ajax applications can also make use of a host of Ajax-enabled libraries and web services from companies such as Google, Amazon, Adobe, Microsoft, and Yahoo!, as well as independent libraries such as Prototype, Dojo, MochiKit, and jQuery. Existing web services can often be used as they are or easily modified to work with Ajax.
Ajax is unique in that it's a cutting edge concept that's based on rather mature technology. Even some of the more esoteric effects can be created comfortably and with confidence; developers can be secure in the knowledge that any particular effect ...