Mostly source codeI was hoping for a good explanatory book, but this is what I got:
listings - sometimes for 4 -5 -6 pages - of javascript /html. With no comments -just source code. Amazing.
Utterly useless. Sorry. I have tried again and again, but this book is quite bad even compared to an online tutorial from someone you have never heard about.
So keep your money.
ExcellentI found this book to be an excellent introduction to AJAX for anybody with a good working knowledge of PHP, JavaScript and MySQL. Clear and concise with the example code well explained and presented.
Personally, I already had the background knowledge but had no experience of and very little knowledge of AJAX. I really needed a crash course in AJAX technologies. Two hours with this book changed that. I found it's concise approach fantastic and it is a book I can see myself returning to again and again.
Overall, highly recommended, a great introduction to AJAX and a most enjoyable read.
Pulp?I was very disappointed to see that most of the book is made up of repeated source code examples. Parts of it is well written but it is very hard to get an overview and to me, it seems, this book was primarily made to make a bit of money while Ajax was still unknown and perplex. Although the authors give some fine examples of how to use the xml that Ajax is based on they don't care to explain how to expand your own knowledge and understanding beyond the simple examples they provide.
If you are satisfied with copying the source code shown in the book then this might be the book for you, but if you want to learn Ajax properly you should probably buy another book.
Also, it had the worst typography I have ever experienced, the pages looked as if they were printed from a cheap ink-printer!
I feel sorry for writing such a harsh review but there are so many parts that are missing. It could have been a good book with a little more effort.
I would be very careful about buying any books from this publisher.
A brilliant introductionI bought this book because I realised that I needed to get to grips with Ajax technologies. As PHP is my weapon of choice this book seemed a perfect place to start.
The chapters are well laid out with different ajax 'applications' well explained and coded. From basic form validation to Google Suggest, Ajax chat and Drag and drop I would recommend this book to anyone with a good grounding in PHP.
PHP implementation is aimed at PHP5 using MySQL through the mysqli extensions making this book valid for a long while yet.
ExcellentThis book is ideal if you already know PHP, MySQL, JavaScript and have heard of AJAX but not had the opportunity to explore it further. If you want to try AJAX but have never come accross a scenario to use it, this book provides some excellent examples which can form the basis of great projects.
The theory behind all the technologies used is very clearly explained, without boring you with detail about obvious things. Right from the first chapter you start learning by examples. The examples can be easily adapted to many web projects and they cover stuff that is both useful and fun.
I have found this book very enjoyable - the best I've bought in a while.
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