Skip to Content
JavaScript® Programmer's Reference
book

JavaScript® Programmer's Reference

by Alexei White
August 2009
Intermediate to advanced
1030 pages
21h 39m
English
Wrox
Content preview from JavaScript® Programmer's Reference

Chapter 19. Ajax

One could argue that few technological advances have done more to advance the web as a platform for business applications than Ajax or (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). The term appeared in 2005 in an article by Jesse James Garrett called Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications describing an assortment of web technologies that developers had been using to improve the overall experience of rich user interfaces. These technologies included:

  • Cascading Style Sheets and XHTML for layout.

  • The DOM for manipulation of the layout and interactivity.

  • XML and XSLT for the exchange and manipulation of data.

  • A JavaScript mechanism known as XMLHttpRequest for asynchronous communication with the server after the page has loaded.

  • JavaScript to tie everything together.

Although the author of the article played no part in inventing any of these things, or even in using them together, he did add something of value to the mix: marketing. Staying on top of web technologies is a full-time job, and the term Ajax made it easy to classify and communicate a more advanced breed of rich-client development methodologies. The cornerstone of Ajax, XMLHttpRequest, was indeed a new idea to many developers, and the sudden media interest in JavaScript inspired an army of developers to learn about this new style of development and also contribute to the community while they were doing so.

Since then, Ajax has become synonymous with XMLHttpRequest, which is what allows you to contact the server on demand ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

Speaking JavaScript

Speaking JavaScript

Axel Rauschmayer
Dojo: The Definitive Guide

Dojo: The Definitive Guide

Matthew A. Russell
Web Developer's Reference Guide

Web Developer's Reference Guide

Joshua Johanan, Talha Khan, Ricardo Zea

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780470344729Purchase book