Beginning Ajax

Using proven examples and explaining concepts step by step, this book shows you how building Ajax-enabled sites and applications allows more interactive user interfaces than ever before. You’ll learn about the differences in capabilities between client-side and server-side development techniques, as well as how Ajax crosses this boundary. You’ll also discover how Ajax techniques can be summed up by patterns (which are development models that you’ll use repeatedly). With a mastery of these techniques, you’ll be able to breathe new life into your Web sites.

As one of the prime enablers of innovations such as wikis, blogs, and third-party APIs, Ajax is redefining the way Web applications are created. This book familiarizes you with the core technologies behind Ajax, and shows you how to start building Web sites using Ajax techniques. It explains concepts step-by-step, using proven examples, so that you can immediately begin applying the information.

You''ll see how building Ajax-enabled sites and applications allows more interactive user interfaces than ever before. You''ll learn about the differences in capabilities between client-side and server-side development techniques, as well as how Ajax crosses this boundary. You''ll discover how Ajax techniques can be summed up by patterns (which are development models that you''ll use repeatedly). With a mastery of these techniques, you''ll be able to breathe new life into your Web sites and applications.

What you will learn from this book

• Ajax pros and cons so you know the best way to use it

• The fundamental JavaScript and DOM techniques underlying Ajax

• Methods for using the XMLHttpRequest object (the primary Ajax enabler) to call ASP.NET, PHP, and Java applications

• How to store and transmit XML data that many Ajax applications use

• How to debug JavaScript in your Ajax applications manually and how to write error handlers

• Ways to combine applications through Web services or APIs to create mashups

Who this book is for

This book is for Web developers who want to start building sites using Ajax techniques and are familiar with (X)HTML, JavaScript, and basic CSS.The reader will also need to be familiar with either PHP or ASP.NET for the server-side examples, although an extensive knowledge of either is not expected.

Chris Ullman is a freelance Web developer and technical author who has spent many years working with ASP/ASP.NET. Coming from a computer science background, he started initially as a UNIX/Linux guru, who gravitated toward Microsoft technologies during the summer of ASP (1997). He cut his teeth on Wrox Press ASP guides, and since then he has written and contributed to more than 25 books, mostnotably as lead author for Wrox's bestselling Beginning ASP/ASP.NET 1.x series. He has contributed chapters to books on PHP, ColdFusion, JavaScript, Web Services, C#, XML, and other Internet-related technologies. After he left Wrox as a full-time employee in August 2001, he branched out into VB.NET/C# programming and ASP.NET development, and he started his own business, CUASP Consulting Ltd, in April 2003. He maintains a variety of Web sites from http://www.cuasp.co.co.uk (his "work" site) to http://www.atomicwise.com (a selection of his writings on music and art). He now divides his time between his family and composing electronic sounds for his music project, Open E.

Lucinda Dykes is a freelance Web developer, teacher, and technical author who has been writing code and developing Web sites since 1994. She started her career in a high-tech area of medicine but left medicine to pursue her interests in technology and the Web. She has been involved in client-side development with JavaScript for many years through her company, Zero G Web, and teaches JavaScript courses online for an international group of students at eclasses.org. She has also authored numerous technical books about XML, XHTML, and Web application development with Dreamweaver.