Ajax in Action

How to create the next generation of cutting-edge web interfaces. Ajax exploded on the scene in the Spring of 2005 when a web site defined the term and Google released Google Maps and GMail, powerful examples of what Ajax can do. Ajax uses familiar web technologies - DHTML, CSS, DOM, and JavaScript - in radically different ways resulting in a much richer user experience. The key to success lies in knowing how to orchestrate them as a coherent whole, splitting off parts of what is normally done by the server and putting it into the browser for instantaneous response to user input. Ajax allows a new breed of web applications with the rich expressiveness of desktop applications. This book helps developers realize that promise - it explains the big picture and how to unlearn many old coding habits. It explains the design patterns and best practices to create a live interface for the user, not get in his way. It also discusses important Ajax issues: how to make good use of network bandwidth, and how to identify, and avoid, common Ajax pitfalls. The book is aimed at all web developers with prior experience in web technologies, independent of the server technologies used. Examples of server code in the book are in Java and .NET. The authors are Ajax developers with considerable depth of experience. They are bloggers and JavaRanch moderators.