What is AJAX?
Ajax, sometimes written as AJAX (shorthand for asynchronous JavaScript and XML), is a group of interrelated web development techniques used on the client-side to create interactive web applications or rich Internet applications.
With Ajax, web applications can retrieve data from the server asynchronously in the background without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing page. The use of Ajax has led to an increase in interactive or dynamic interfaces on web pages and better quality of Web services due to the asynchronous mode. ( More info... )
Getting Started
- XMLHttpRequest - Apple.
- XMLHttpRequest - Mozilla.
Favorite AJAX Sites
- Ajaxian.com - Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith.
- Ajax Lessons - AjaxLessons.com.
- Ajax Matters - Shane Witbeck.
- Ajax Patterns - Michael Mahemoff.
Recommended Reading
AJAX: The Definitive Guide
Ajax builds on older technologies and techniques but reaches a tipping point where the results are new. This book gives you a boost to this next stage of web application development, teaching you how tried-and-true web standards not only make Ajax possible, but why developing with them is faster, easier and cheaper. Learn to build browser-based applications that function like desktop programs.
See also: JavaScript: The Good Parts
Assorted Articles About AJAX
- A Simpler Ajax Path - Matthew Eernisse.
- Accessibility of AJAX Application: Part 1 - Jared Smith.
- Ajax: 99 Percent Bad - Johnnie Manzari.
- Ajax, Ajax Everywhere - Derek Powazek.
- AJAX: A Fresh Look at Web Development - Edmon Begoli.
- AJAX: A New Approach to Web Applications - Jesse James Garrett.
- AJAX and Accessibility - Faruk Ates.
- AJAX and Accessibility by Peter Krantz.
- AJAX and Interface Design - Luke Wroblewski.
- Ajax Cleans Up Web Applications - David Utter.
- AJAX: How to Handle Bookmarks and Back Buttons - Brad Neuberg.
- Ajax in Action. Chapter 6: The User Experience - Dave Crane & Eric Pascarello with Darren James.
- Ajax Link Tracker - Glenn Jones.
- Ajax on Rails - Curt Hibbs.
- AJAX: Usable Interactivity with Remote Scripting - Cameron Adams.
- AJAX: Your Take - D. Keith Robinson.
- Best Practices: Implementing Javascript for Rich Internet Applications - Austin Govella.
- Call an Apple an Apple - Ian Hickson.
- Edit-in-Place with Ajax - Drew McLellan.
- Designing for the Subtlety of Ajax - Jeff Veen.
- Image previews with DOM JavaScript (and PHP if wanted) - Christian Heilmann.
- Errors and AJAX - Joshua Gitlin.
- Easy Ajax with Prototype - Drew McLellan.
- Fixing the Back Button that AJAX Broke - Mike Davies.
- For Many AJAX is Not Degrading, But it Must - Thomas Vander Wal.
- Hijax - Jeremy Keith.
- How to Develop Web Applications with Ajax, Pt. 1 - Jonathan Fenocchi.
- Increasing the Strength of Ajax - Eric A. Meyer.
- Is AJAX Here to Stay? - Jordan Frank.
- JavaScript 1, 2, and in between - Brendan Eich.
- Javascript: What's Next? - Alessandro Fulciniti.
- Life After Ajax? - Micah Dubinko.
- Proudly Presenting AJAX-S! - Robert Nyman.
- AJAX-S, Release 2! - Robert Nyman.
- Statistical AJAX - Steve Smith.
- Step by Step to AJAX - Jayaram Krishnaswamy.
- Take Command With AJAX - Stoyan Stefanov.
- This is Not Another XMLHttpRequest Article - Cameron Adams.
- Progressive enhancement using XmlHttpRequest - Jeremy Keith.
- Rasmus' 30 second AJAX Tutorial - Rasmus Lerdorf.
- Remote Scripting with AJAX, Part 1 - Cameron Adams.
- Remote Scripting with AJAX, Part 2 - Cameron Adams.
- Survey of AJAX/JavaScript Libraries - wiki.osafoundation.org.
- The Hows and Whys of Degradable Ajax - Ryan Campbell.
- Using Ajax - Phil Ballard.
- Using the XML HTTP Request object - Jim Ley.
- Using the XMLHttpRequest Object and AJAX to Spy On You - Earle Castledine.
- Usability and accessibility with AJAX - Simon Willison.
- Very Dynamic Web Interfaces - Drew McLelland.
- Will AJAX help Google clean up? - Paul Festa.
- Why Ajax Isn't Web 2 - Anne Van Kesteren.
- Why Ajax Matters Now - Jesse James Garrett.
- XMLHttpRequest for The Masses - Drew McLellan.
See also: XML