Wrox - Professional Ajax 2nd Edition

Introduction

With recent advances in JavaScript, web developers have been able to create an unprecedented user experience in web applications. Breaking free of the “click and wait” paradigm that has dominated the web since its inception, developers can now bring features formerly reserved for desktop applications onto the web using a technique called Ajax.

Ajax is an all-encompassing term surrounding the use of asynchronous HTTP requests initiated by JavaScript for the purpose of retrieving information from the server without unloading the page. These requests may be executed in any number of ways and using any number of different data transmission formats. Combining this remote data retrieval with the interactivity of the Document Object Model (DOM) has bred a new generation of web applications that seem to defy all the traditional rules of what can happen on the web. Big companies such as Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft have devoted resources specifically towards the goal of creating web applications that look and behave like desktop applications.

This book covers the various aspects of Ajax, including the different ways you can initiate HTTP requests to the server and the different formats that can be used to carry data back and forth. You will learn different Ajax techniques and patterns for executing client-server communication on your web site