"It also needs to be clear that Ajax isn't a technology as such but rather is a technique that combines well with other technologies and techniques. For example, xml, dhtml, css, xhtml. In fact, Ajax really is DHTML with the xmlhttprequest object thrown in. It is amazing to think how one object can change the whole playing field. Ajax itself is a technique, but to use the technique effectively one must become familiar with the philosophy behind the technique. In other words, it is not just the use of the technique that is important, but rather developing a different mindset and approach to Web development that is central.
To date, I have mentioned the term Ajax a number of times but have not described the central object that makes Ajax, Ajax. At the heart of Ajax are the xmlhttprequest object and its Microsoft's activeX equivalent. It is this object that allows data to be transferred asynchronously. In case you are not clear what asynchronous means, it is the ability to handle processes independently from other processes.
We are going to walk through the basics of Ajax and culminate in the building of a little Ajax powered Fading Image Gallery application. In this way it is hoped that a deeper appreciation for what Ajax is capable of is conveyed. In other words, this initial tutorial is meant to help you get up and running in building your first Ajax powered Web application."
"A lot has been written about Ajax technology, but how should it be applied in practice? What real benefits does it provide to users? This white paper addresses these questions from a usability perspective. "
"So what’s next in the evolution of the enterprise application? Are we doomed to spiral back toward a thick-client model in order to achieve the application richness that we have come to expect? Microsoft would like to think so as they push forward with their vision of the Universe—namely Longhorn and Avalon. Replacing the web model entirely seems a bit far-fetched, even for Microsoft, so we ask ourselves, ‘Can the existing web model be leveraged to deliver the superior presentation capabilities we demand while continuing to drive down the total cost of ownership for enterprise applications?’ From the business perspective, can we create industrial strength enterprise applications that transform the user experience without increasing total cost of ownership? Must we spiral backward to the thick-client model to achieve richness, or can we leap forward within the existing thin-client model? This paper explores this possibility further through the examination of current trends, dissection of the underlying problem, and the introduction of an approach that delivers a superior user experience to webbased enterprise applications, while minimizing the total cost of ownership of those applications by preserving the thin-client model."
"For some AJAX is marketing speak for something that has been around for years. For others, it is the salvation they have been looking for, for seemingly centuries. I would tell the former group that the latter group finally caught up, and you should revel in the growth of your new community and accept them with open arms. Snobbery really won't help anyone. Recently Jesse James Garrett from Adaptive Path wrote an article for the duo at Ok-Cancel called "Why AJAX Matters Now". ... I would say that Jesse describes well why the world is now ready for AJAX where earlier uses of the same technology had really no chance of taking off. ... What makes AJAX consumable now are 3 things:
- Jesse gave the technology XMLHTTPRequest (created by Microsoft for IE 4.0) a great catchy name that was non-intimidating: Asynchronous JavaScript and XMLAJAX.
- The general web-browsing community had reached a point where older browsers that no longer supported this technology were not being supported. Specifically two big leaps helped this happen:
- Safari was standard on all MacOS X systems.
- Firefox has had rave success as an alternative to IE on both Mac & Windows AND it runs on Linux as well with relatively little differences in the way that it's engine translates HTML, JavaScript and CSS.
- Someone with mainstream clout put their money where their mouth is and developed an application for the world to see that it not only works, but makes a HUGE difference to the user experience of their product—Gmail and Google Maps. Other companies quickly followed suit like Flickr and Basecamp.
What follows is an attempt to answer those concerns in as real a way as possible, and also to further elaborate on the relevance and importance of AJAX at a more tangible and tactical level. Core pieces that will come out of this paper are: - Why other technologies are not as good as AJAX for MOST web-based (in the browser applications). - Why AJAX by itself doesn't kill the "back-button", but rather how AJAX changes the paradigm for what a page really is, and also why this still differs from desktop software and SHOULD. - Lastly, a set of suggestions as to how we might need to change the way we craft user interfaces that utilize AJAX. What I would like to discuss is what qualities of your design you need to consider before choosing a Rich Internet Application technology and why companies like Google have made a pretty good choice with AJAX."
"Web applications have entered a new era driven by web site goals such as fast response to user actions and user collaboration in creating and sharing web site content. The popular term attributed to these highly responsive and often collaborative sites is Web 2.0. Some prime examples of Web 2.0 are web sites such as Google Maps and Flickr. This paper is about the primary technique in use for making Web 2.0 sites highly responsive: Asynchronous JavaScript And XML (AJAX)."
"In Ajax Web applications, the response time between the client request and the server response is reduced. This reduction is accomplished by exchanging small amounts of data between the user’s browser and the server without refreshing the entire Web page with each response. This design can drastically improve response time. How Ajax Works In Ajax applications: JavaScript takes a larger role than in traditional Web applications. At the beginning of a session, the browser loads an Ajax engine, usually written in JavaScript, along with a Web page. This engine then displays the Web page that the user sees in the browser, and communicates the user’s requests back to the server. The presence of the Ajax engine allows the user to interact with the application without constant interaction with the server. The Ajax engine sends HTTP requests and provides immediate feedback to the user. The application, therefore, continues to respond to user events and interaction. When the response is received from the server, the engine manipulates the Document Object Model (DOM) to present the results to the user. Security Issues for Ajax Web Applications: While Ajax can greatly improve the usability of a Web application, it can also create several opportunities for possible attack if the application is not designed with security in mind. Since Ajax Web applications exist on both the client and the server, they include the following security issues: 1) Create a larger attack surface with many more inputs to secure; 2) Expose internal functions of the Web application server; and 3) Allow a client-side script to access third-party resources with no builtin security mechanisms."
"This paper aims to define users’ information expectations as web technologies continue to improve in loading time and uninterrupted interface interactivity. Do web technologies like Ajax – or, more abstractly, a quicker fulfilling of user needs – change these needs, or do they merely fulfill preexisting expectations? Users navigated through a mock e-commerce site where each page that loads has a 50% chance of implementing Ajax technology, from functions of the shopping cart to expanding categories of products. Users were observed through eye tracking and measuring their pulse and respiratory effort. Questionnaires were administered before and after these tasks to assess their thoughts about the study. Qualitative and quantitative observation found users almost unanimously favored the Ajax functions over the non-Ajax. Users emphasized the usability concerns of switching to Ajax, especially concerning feedback."
"A new breed of web application, dubbed AJAX, is emerging in response to a limited degree of interactivity in large-grain stateless Web interactions. At the heart of this new approach lies a single page interaction model that facilitates rich interactivity. We have studied and experimented with several AJAX frameworks trying to understand their architectural properties. In this paper, we summarize three of these frameworks and examine their properties and introduce the SPIAR architectural style.
An open source Ajax framework called Echo2, the web framework offered by Google called GWT, and the commercial package delivered by Backbase. All three frameworks are major players in the AJAX market, and their underlying technologies differ substantially.
We describe the guiding software engineering principles and the constraints chosen to induce the desired properties. The style emphasizes user interface component development, and intermediary delta-communication between client/server components, to improve user interactivity and ease of development. In addition, we use the concepts and principles to discuss various open issues in AJAX frameworks and application development."
"Google has shown that the painfully slow user experience we've come to expect from the Internet can be much faster and smoother with AJAX. With AJAX, Web form elements are updated individually. This allows the server-side application to be designed to compute answers as data and not as full pages to be redisplayed, boosting the server's scalability for serving more users, and the application remains usable while the request is sent to the server.
This white paper explores how AJAX improves the Web interface user experience by increasing interactivity and reducing roundtrips to the server. Learn how this technology works and how it is leveraged to create advanced web displays with graphical user interfaces. Find out how AJAX aids in the development of Web graphical user interfaces that include:
"This paper discusses the methods used to create web applications using AJAX technology This white paper discusses a methodology of using AJAX along with a standard EDI message specification to jump start the process of web-based EDI application generation. This methodology allows for quicker development time that leverage EDI standards. To view the technology that this white paper is based on visit www.americancoders.com/oboeajax.html. This actively running servlet shows several EDI and non-EDI examples of AJAX in action. This technical white paper covers three areas of this web-server technology. First, the paper discusses using JavaScript objects to parse XML definitions used for the user entry screen, displaying the screen, editing the user data and lastly sending the user response to the server. Second, the paper covers the AJAX technology to receive the XML definitions and send the user response back to the server. And third, it has an overview of the necessary Java servlet technology running on the server."
"Users have come to appreciate the desktop-like interactivity and flexibility that Rich Internet Applications (RIA) bring to the Web experience. Beginning with a brief history of RIAs, this paper focuses on the technical aspects required to bring this richness into the enterprise through what we term Rich Enterprise Applications (REA), explained through the technical pillars required to make this transformation possible."
" 'The fundamental purpose of Web applications is to facilitate the completion of one or more tasks'. But depending on the type and complexity of the tasks involved, different technical solutions may be better suited to enable the specific interactions each product requires. Flash, Java applets, DHTML, Active X, Smart Clients, Java Web Start, SVG— what do you choose and why? What types of interactivity and visual presentation does each technology enable? What does each limit? As Web application interface designers, these are questions we encounter time and time again. As a result, we decided to document what we’ve learned and research what we didn’t know about the opportunities and limitations that characterize some of the most popular Web application presentation layer solutions available today. We evaluated each solution against a consistent set of criteria and described it with a concise definition, set of examples, and references that enable further analysis. We also shared our findings with a team of expert reviewers (page 18) to ensure we were on the right track. The end result is this designer’s guide. For your convenience, each solution we’ve evaluated is presented on a single-page snapshot that helps designers, product managers, and business owners make an informed decision for their Web application’s front-end technology. Of course, this guide is not meant to be a substitute for consulting with knowledgeable programmers and system architects. We simply want to prepare you for those discussions. The right Web application presentation layer needs to meet your specific business, user, and technology needs and multiple solutions can exist per business and per product. We hope this guide helps steer you in the right direction. This guide is not intended to define the multitude of presentation layer solutions available for Web applications. We’re focused on explaining the trade-offs. However, an overview of the grouping and evaluation criteria we’ve used to describe each solution is required to ensure we present accurate comparisons."
"The development of high-volume web applications draws on many principles and guidelines drawn from software engineering, human-computer interaction, and other aspects of system design. This paper identifies those principles and guidelines, with a focus on abstraction and modularity principles, using a content management system as an illustration of using high-levelabstractions to create web applications. "
"In order for Web servers to reliably deliver sophisticated applications to Web browsers a range of enterprise-level systems built on two key technologies, Java™-based J2EE and Microsoft .Net, have emerged. A number of Web application frameworks have been introduced to work with these technologies and these frameworks facilitate development by providing a skeletal support structure made of reusable software components to solve common Web application problems. Although such frameworks have been in use for a number of years they are constantly evolving; this report reviews their current state-of-the-art and discusses, in depth, two such frameworks: Ruby on Rails and Cocoon. It is argued that adoption of Web frameworks can reduce the development learning curve, reduce project costs, and, in the long run, offer a potential indicator towards future systems that may allow non-programmers to build applications. The report speculates that these easy-to-use development systems may, in the future, be able to work with emerging technologies and approaches being developed in the Semantic Web."
