ajax: a new approach to web applications

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ajax: a new approach to web applications

By Martin English | May 22, 2005

Historicaly, there’s a big gap between the richness and responsiveness of Desktop applications and that of Web technologies. The same simplicity that enabled the Web’s rapid proliferation also creates a gap between the experiences it provides compared to the experiences users can get from a desktop application.
That gap is closing. Take a look at Google Suggest. Watch the way the suggested terms update as you type, almost instantly. Now look at Google Maps. Zoom in. Use your cursor to grab the map and scroll around a bit. Again, everything happens almost instantly, with no waiting for pages to reload.
Google Suggest and Google Maps are two examples of a new approach to web applications that Adaptive Path have been calling Ajax. The name is shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript XML, and it represents a fundamental shift in what’s possible on the Web.
Ajax isn’t a technology. It’s really several technologies, each flourishing in its own right, coming together in powerful new ways. Ajax incorporates:
* standards-based presentation using XHTML and CSS;
* dynamic display and interaction using the Document Object Model;
* data interchange and manipulation using XML and XSLT;
* asynchronous data retrieval using XMLHttpRequest;
* and JavaScript binding everything together.
read more at adaptive path � ajax: a new approach to web applications.