Ajax: The Definitive Guide

Chapter 8. Fun with Tables and Lists

When (X)HTML tables were first introduced, they evoked a variety of emotions in different developers: fear, confusion, satisfaction, excitement, and even loathing. They were confusing, yes, but they gave developers layout control they never had before. As time went on, tables began to handle the bulk of the work when it came to providing structures to display data on the client to the user. (X)HTML lists, although not inducing the love-hate relationship that tables sometimes did, also provided the developer with a means of structuring data. Until the idea of dynamic content came around, these tables and lists were workhorses for this static display.

But then came dynamic tables. Using CSS, rows and items could be highlighted when clicked on or moused over, and on-the-fly sorting became popular. The table and list became integral parts of the web site or application, with fancier and more sophisticated looks thanks to the CSS rules that can be applied to them.

Now we have Ajax, and many developers can see ways to utilize these structures to create functionality in web applications that, until now, were limited to desktop and Windows applications. Lists provide ways to display hierarchical details and data. Tables can not only be sorted, but also added to, updated, and deleted without refreshing the browser.

Tables and lists are not the mysterious entities they once were; now they are useful everyday tools put to work in web applications. With Ajax ...