JavaScript and Ajax for the Web, Sixth Edition: Visual QuickStart Guide

Chapter 15. Introducing Ajax

The Web is always changing, and for Web and JavaScript developers the ground shifted under their feet beginning in early 2005. New and immediately popular Web applications appeared, some of them from Google, such as Gmail and Google Maps, and some from others, such as Flickr and the MyYahoo! portal. The common denominator of all of these new sites was that they acted more like desktop applications, with fast, responsive user interfaces. Instead of the traditional Web application, where the user clicked, waited some number of seconds for the server to respond and refresh the page, and then repeated the process, these new sites were more reactive, updating pages right away, providing superior interaction, and making ...