Web Application Architecture: Principles, Protocols and Practices, 2nd Edition

Preface to the Second Edition

The expression "web time" connotes a world in which rapid change is the norm, where time is exponentially condensed. Technological advances that once upon a time might have taken years to transpire now occur in a matter of months or even days. What's more, these advances often result in radical paradigm shifts that change the way we interact with our technology, and with the world at large.

The first edition of this book was published in 2003. Since then, there have been many technological advances and paradigm shifts, causing some of what we wrote to become dated. New frameworks such as Ruby on Rails have arisen as a reaction to increasing complexity in the application development process. AJAX has taken client-side interactivity to a new level, blazing new frontiers in web application functionality. Search has become a fundamental part of our everyday web experience. Even the core protocols and markup languages representing the foundation of web technology have evolved since we first wrote about them over five years ago. Back then, who could have imagined the ascendance of today's most popular web applications, such as YouTube, Facebook, eBay, and Wikipedia, or the advances in real-time interactivity that are now commonplace?

For the second edition of this book, we provide new material covering these changes in the web technology landscape, while striving to bring existing content up-to-date. We have included new chapters on search technology and client-side ...