To create custom dynamic web applications a programmer must utilize Ajax. Ajax is a group of technologies that provide asynchronous two-way communication between a server and the web browser. Asynchronous communication allows the user to continue to browse the web page as sections of it are being loaded. This also allows the page to display new and updated information without refreshing the page. Ajax development has exploded in recent years as companies have found customers prefer pages developed with it. ESPN uses Ajax extensively on their website to refresh scores and provide news headlines without the user having to update the page.
Creating an Ajax request requires three sections of code, the first section is writing in HTML, the second writing in JavaScript and the third is a server script writing PHP. Each section of code provides a different portion of the Ajax request, if the request is missing any of the sections it will fail. While Ajax is good for many scenarios a programmer must carefully examine its use to prevent problems from arising.
AJAX is a relatively new method to create rich internet applications with responsive interfaces that allow the designer to take a lot of the tedium out of using web- based mediums for day-to-day data interaction. The scope of this paper will be to provide information about what AJAX is and what it does, when it should and shouldn’t be used and what the future looks like for AJAX in comparison to the present and future alternatives. This will help developers determine the value of using AJAX in their projects and provide information about the proper use of this technology. This report will assume a basic knowledge with web forms and the design of web applications.
AJAX is an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. It is not a technology in itself, but rather a suite of technologies. The combination of JavaScript and XML allows for a responsive user interface. It requires more development time than a traditional web solution; however a well-designed AJAX user interface makes the traditional form-based web application seem almost archaic.
The technologies powering the internet are changing at an accelerated rate; one of these technologies is Ajax. Ajax or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML are a group of technologies that provide a rich web development platform. Jesse James Garrett introduced the term Ajax in February of 2005 to describe a new method of programming using readily available technologies. Ajax requires four distinct components to provide a rich user interface. The components are JavaScript, XML, HTML, and CSS.
Ajax is unique because it allows for the creation of desktop like applications in a web environment. Typically a “desktop” application is very responsive and can have sections of the program change without refreshing the entire screen. This occurs because the program is running on the local machine. Web applications usually run thru an internet browser like Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. These applications are usually slower because they require the server to process each request. Most web applications require the entire webpage to be processed at once. This means when a user clicks on a link in a webpage the whole page will be changed. With Ajax a user can click on a link and have a section of the page recreated for them without changing the whole page. This removes a portion of the load from the server because it only has to parse a section of the page rather than the whole page.
