Chapter 19. Ajax on Rails
Ajax isn’t a technology. It’s really several technologies, each flourishing in its own right, coming together in powerful new ways
—Jesse J. Garrett, who coined the name Ajax
Ajax is an acronym that stands for asynchronous JavaScript and XML. It encompasses techniques that allow us to liven up web pages with behaviors that happen outside the normal HTTP request life cycle (without a page refresh).
Some example use cases for Ajax techniques are the following:
• “Type ahead” input suggestion, as in Google search
• Asynchronous form data delivery
• Seamless navigation of web-presented maps, as in Google Maps
• Dynamically updated lists and tables, as in Gmail and other web-based email services
• Web-based spreadsheets
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