Beginning Ajax by Chris Ullman, Lucinda Dykes

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
We've read plenty of Ajax guides by now. Beginning Ajax is one of the most sensible, patient, coherent, and comprehensible we've seen. It's not just well written and well presented: It reflects the growing maturity of Ajax development that has followed the early, hype-driven race to Ajax.

Chris Ullman and Lucinda Dykes open with a thoughtful discussion of what's new (and old) in Ajax, when it makes sense to use it, and when to avoid it. For example: Could your application benefit from constant, automatic updating, or partial page updates? Will Ajax cause problems for you in mobile applications or offline viewing? How do you know whether using Ajax will improve application responsiveness or worsen it? (Incidentally, if you're worried about broken bookmarks and Back buttons, the authors point you to a solution.)

Next, Ullman and Dykes offer a concise refresher on JavaScript and DOM. (If you're completely new to JavaScript, consider checking out the complementary Beginning JavaScript, 2nd Edition, or JavaScript Bible, 6th Edition. But if you've used JavaScript before, this is probably all you'll need.)

You'll learn how Ajax integrates with server-side technology (the authors' techniques will work with any platform you choose). Now you're ready to dive into the heart of Ajax. You'll find clear and thorough coverage of using XMLHttpRequest (and its alternatives); extracting XML data, element, and attribute values; debugging and error handling; using XSLT and XPath; integrating external data and web services, and even using the JSON lightweight data-interchange format to streamline and accelerate your Ajax code. There's also a very welcome chapter on Ajax programming patterns. In short, this is all you need to go from Ajax beginner to Ajax pro. Bill Camarda, from the April 2007 Read Only

From the Publisher

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.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents