Pro JavaScript™ Techniques

CHAPTER 12Autocomplete Search

The most important functionality that Ajax technology affords is the ability to create highly interactive user interfaces, many of which weren't previously possible. An example of one of these new user interface elements is what's known as the autocomplete search field. The autocomplete search field is much like a normal text field, but it automatically completes search terms as you begin to type them in. This means that as you're typing a search query, the client is sending requests to the server (in the background) in an attempt to give you faster and more accurate results.

In this chapter I go through each of the components that are needed to build a full autocomplete search. First you'll see how to construct ...