Is Ajax a new technology, or the same old stuff web developers have been using for years? Both, actually. This book demonstrates not only how tried-and-true web standards make Ajax possible, but how these older technologies allow you to give sites a decidedly modern Web 2.0 feel. Ajax: The Definitive Guide explains how to use standards like JavaScript, XML, CSS, and XHTML, along with the XMLHttpRequest object, to build browser-based web applications that function like desktop programs. You get a complete background on what goes into today's web sites and applications, and learn to leverage these tools along with Ajax for advanced browser searching, web services, mashups, and more. You discover how to turn a web browser and web site into a true application, and why developing with Ajax is faster, easier and cheaper. The book also explains:

• How to connect server-side backend components to user interfaces in the browser

• Loading and manipulating XML documents, and how to replace XML with JSON

• Manipulating the Document Object Model (DOM)

• Designing Ajax interfaces for usability, functionality, visualization, and accessibility

• Site navigation layout, including issues with Ajax and the browser's back button

• Adding life to tables & lists, navigation boxes and windows

• Animation creation, interactive forms, and data validation

• Search, web services and mash-ups

• Applying Ajax to business communications, and creating Internet games without plug-ins

• The advantages of modular coding, ways to optimize Ajax applications, and more

This book also provides references to XML and XSLT, popular JavaScript Frameworks, Libraries, and Toolkits, and various Web Service APIs. By offering web developers a much broader set of tools and options, Ajax gives developers a new way to create content on the Web, while throwing off the constraints of the past. Ajax: The Definitive Guide describes the contents of this unique toolbox in exhaustive detail, and explains how to get the most out of it.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 10 Ratings

Very thorough treatment of Ajax - 2008-10-20
Reviewer Rating:
If you are looking for a book with thorough treatment of Ajax, you are in the right place. The book does justice to it's title. I appreciate all the code snippets. However, they tend to repititive. When presentig a variation of a code snippet already presented, the author repeats the whole code snippet, instead of just highlighting the differences.

I must have forgotten to pick up the kitchen sink. Oh no i didn't it's this book. - 2009-07-20
Reviewer Rating:
Assuming you desire to learn AJAX then the short answer is to hit that back button and try something else.

If however you want to have a brief guide of the internet, computers, and various programming languages unrelated to AJAX then you should probably hit the back button and find books related specifically to those topics.

I am a programmer and I know how to use AJAX, which for the layman is a way to refresh content on a website without reloading the page. This book I read through because I figured it was the definitive guide, and might be able to provide some insights that I was unaware of regarding AJAX.

What I received for example, in chapter 21 was "internet games without plugins" which being a gamer i found an interesting title. I thought wow okay fine, how to use AJAX to make games without plugins.. that makes sense cause we don't have to refresh the page anymore! Instead was a history of different game genres and not a quip about how to program for them.

The large quantities of code have already been mentioned, and I thought there might have been some exaggeration. There is not. However, I thought well great... now i'll see lots of AJAX examples. Nope, nothing to do w/ajax.. everything to do with css,html,some javascript .. apis, mashups .. what?

Anyway, i just hope that i can save one person from giving away their money for a piece of junk that this book represents. Unless of course learning w/some sort of shotgun analogy then go right ahead.

Generally on the mark - 2008-09-08
Reviewer Rating:
Let me preface this review by saying that I have never been a fan of thick programming or computer books. If a book is 2 inches thick, I often find only 1/2 to 1 inch of it to be valuable. However, most of Ajax: The Definitive Guide seems to hit the mark. Since Ajax development is such an expansive, and rapidly changing, topic, it is perhaps a good idea to shoot for too much rather than too little information. Most developers will find this book not only a good learning guide, but also a handy reference for a wide variety of coding needs.

One thing you will notice when scanning through this book is that there is a *lot* of code. The author is not afraid to publish pages and pages of Ajax code for readers to consider, copy and hack up to create their own applications. Not all is useful in real-world applications, however, since some of it is not cross-browser compatible (most often failing in Internet Explorer).

The first three chapters are largely an introduction to Web technologies, and can be skipped by most developers. In Chapter 4, the author introduces the XMLHttpRequest object, the object that puts the "asynchronous" in Ajax (an acronym for "asynchronous JavaScript and XML"). He details how to make simple applications that pull information from server-based XML or JSON, an alternative data format well suited to Ajax. Chapter 5 deals with Document Object Model programming, a critical task that allows developers to change the look and content of Web pages that have already been rendered.

After these foundational concepts, Part 2 contains nine chapters that provide specific solutions to common Web programming needs. Readers learn the ins and outs of creating Ajaxified navigation, forms, lists, tables, frames, etc.

Part 3, called "Ajax in Applications," goes a step farther by showing the reader how to integrate Ajax with other applications. Chapter 16, for example, shows the reader how to incorporate Ajaxified Google search into a site and even include such dynamic features as search hinting. Other chapters in this section introduce Web services, Web APIs and even show how to create Ajax animated games.

Part 4 contains two chapters that show readers how to create more modular code, and how to create faster, more compressed code. This is critical considering the importance of speed to the user experience in Ajax.

One of the book's shortfalls is the lack of information about the various Ajax libraries. Libraries and frameworks provide solutions to common programming needs: ready-made widgets, improved JavaScript programming notation, useful objects and easy cross-browser compatibility. The author includes a brief introduction to the libraries in chapter 4 and a reference in Appendix B. There are also mentions of the major libraries scattered throughout the chapters. However, it would be worthwhile to include at least a chapter devoted to each of the major libraries such as Dojo, Prototype and jQuery.

Good if you're looking for a cookbook - 2009-09-03
Reviewer Rating:
This book was pretty straightforward and clear in its explanation of the various pieces of Ajax. This portion of the book only comprises the first 200 pages though so if you're not looking for an Ajax cookbook this isn't the book for you. Also, this book doesn't go through the various Ajax frameworks in any depth.

Great Resource and Very Thorough - 2008-11-29
Reviewer Rating:
This book was a bit intimidating and it took me a while to get through it. The nice thing is that all that reading was worthwhile because I gained a very thorough understanding of Ajax and its associated technologies. I would recommend this title to anyone who wants to know what Ajax is, how it works, etc. and is serious about it.

This book is not for someone looking for a quick and dirty intro. But it wont leave the reader wondering either - this is a deep dig into Ajax.

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