Ajax The Definitive Guide

The Complete Guide to Building Interactive Applications for the Web

Is Ajax a new technology or the same old stuff? You’ll hear arguments on both sides, and both sides are right, but the point is academic. “The growth and advancement of technology in the last three to four years have been incredible,” notes author Anthony T. Holdener III. “Ajax is one of the reasons new web applications are becoming such a hit, and the more people can learn to utilize Ajax in their projects, the better those projects will be for end users.”

Holdener’s new book, Ajax: The Definitive Guide (O’Reilly) demonstrates how tried-and-true technologies (aka “the same old stuff”) make Ajax possible, and shows how these older technologies are the underlying secret of that decidedly modern Web 2.0 feel.

“New innovations, together with the functionality of Ajax, have given the Web a new look and appeal,” says Holdener. “Ajax: The Definitive Guide explores what you can do with Ajax to give them a Web 2.0 feel and how additional JavaScript advancements can turn a web browser and web site into a true application. Even before that, you’ll get a background on what goes into today’s web sites and applications.”

Ajax: The Definitive Guide explains how to use standards like JavaScript, XML, CSS, and XHTML, along with the XMLHttpRequest object, to build browser-based web applications that function like desktop programs. You get a complete background on what goes into today’s web sites and applications, and learn to leverage these tools along with Ajax for advanced browser searching, web services, mashups, and more. You discover how to turn a web browser and web site into a true application, and why developing with Ajax is faster, easier and cheaper.

The book also explains:

How to connect server-side backend components to user interfaces in the browser
. Loading and manipulating XML documents, and how to replace XML with JSON
. Manipulating the Document Object Model (DOM)
Designing Ajax interfaces for usability, functionality, visualization, and accessibility
Site navigation layout, including issues with Ajax and the browser’s back button
. Adding life to tables & lists, navigation boxes and windows
. Animation creation, interactive forms, and data validation
. Search, web services and mash-ups
Applying Ajax to business communications, and creating Internet games without plug-ins
The advantages of modular coding, ways to optimize Ajax applications, and more

Also included are references to XML and XSLT, popular JavaScript Frameworks, Libraries, and Toolkits, and various Web Service APIs.