Chapter 4
Embracing AJAX and JSON
IN THIS CHAPTER
Reading and writing JSON
Understanding AJAX
Using AJAX
“The Web does not just connect machines, it connects people.”
— TIM BERNERS-LEE
AJAX is a technique for making web pages more dynamic by sending and receiving data in the background while the user interacts with the pages. JSON has become the standard data format used by AJAX applications. In this chapter, you find out how to use AJAX techniques to make your site sparkle!
Working behind the Scenes with AJAX
Asynchronous JavaScript + XML (AJAX) is a term that’s used to describe a method of using JavaScript, the DOM, HTML, and the XMLHttpRequest object together to refresh parts of a web page with live data without needing to refresh the entire page.
AJAX was first implemented on a large scale by Google’s Gmail in 2004 and then was given its name by Jesse James Garret in 2005.
The HTML DOM changes the page dynamically. The important innovation that AJAX made was to use the XMLHttpRequest object to retrieve data from the server asynchronously (in the background) without blocking ...
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