Exploring Ajax Fundamentals

Identifying core Ajax/Web 2.0 components

• XHTML
• XML
• JavaScript
• CSS
• DOM
• JSON
• Exchanging information using the XMLHttpRequest object

Building rich, interactive Web applications

• Measuring the business benefits of Ajax
• Improving data exchange efficiency
• Streamlining data entry and presentation

Applying Client-Side Ajax Techniques

Implementing Ajax communication approaches

• Exchanging data with the server using XHR
• Selecting GET or POST methods
• Processing the server response
• Handling communication errors

Development and debugging methods

• Monitoring communications
• Utilising browser tools

Developing Dynamic Content

Exploiting the power of DOM

• Accessing page elements
• Modifying HTML content
• Avoiding memory leaks
• Searching and manipulating XML with DOM

Enhancing the user experience

• Latency and feedback
• Ensuring up-to-date data with cache defeat
• Compressing for optimal download speed

Leveraging Third-Party Libraries

Optimising functionality

• Tapping into the power of client libraries
• Extending standard objects
• Decreasing time-to-market with code-reuse
• Defining and configuring JavaScript objects with JSON

Exploiting third-party libraries

• Assessing the benefits of JavaScript library code
• Utilising the library selection criteria
• Introducing JQuery and Prototype

Simplifying page logic

• Streamlining page content manipulation
• Reacting to the user with event handling
• Cleaning up HTML with unobtrusive JavaScript
• Encapsulating Ajax requests

Making the User Interface Accessible

Meeting accessibility standards

• Architecting for progressive enhancement and graceful degradation
• Complying with W3C and statutory guidelines

Improving ease of use

• Resolving back button limitations
• Adding bookmarking capabilities

Managing Security and Validation

Reducing security threats

• Analysing the XHR security model
• Preventing theft of JSON data

Validating user input

• Checking form data
• Addressing the limitations of client-side validation

On-Demand JavaScript Capabilities

Hiding complexity

• Dynamically injecting script blocks
• Creating self-contained JavaScript libraries

Constructing cross-domain requests

• Making use of the <script> tag to access JSON data from a second site
• Integrating cross-domain RSS with a server-side proxy

Maximising Toolkits for Rich User Interfaces

Taking advantage of code libraries

• Adding a graphical calendar control
• Enabling drag and drop
• Marrying data and presentation through in-line editing
• Exploiting special effects for the "wow" factor

Developing a rich user interface

• Populating forms with dynamic requests
• Assisting the user with autosuggest
• Supercharging data forms with rich text editors