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

What Is Ajax?

The short answer is that it’s a way to create interactive Web applications. All right, now what does that mean? Let’s think about things that you might want to do with a Web site. For example, you might want to go out to dinner with your spouse. (If you don’t have a spouse, feel free to substitute “friend,” “relative,” or “pet” for “spouse” in the previous sentence. Though most people don’t go to dinner with their pets. But we digress.) So you want to know how to get from your place to that fabulous new restaurant downtown that everyone’s told you about. You decide to look up directions on a Web site that provides maps. You go to the site, type in the restaurant’s address, and the site shows you a map with the restaurant marked. ...