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Head Rush Ajax
by Brett Mclaughlin
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9780596102258 
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Only 1 left in stock at $27.50!
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Sick of creating web sites that reload every time a user moves the mouse? Tired of servers that wait around to respond to users' requests for movie tickets? It sounds like you need a little (or maybe a lot of) Ajax in your life. Asynchronous programming lets you turn your own websites into smooth, slick, responsive applications that make your users feel like they're back on the information superhighway, not stuck on a dial-up backroad.
But who wants to take on next-generation web programming with the last generation's instruction book? You need a learning experience that's as compelling and cutting-edge as the sites you want to design. That's where we come in. With Head Rush Ajax, in no time you'll be writing JavaScript code that fires off asynchronous requests to web servers...and having fun doing it. By the time you've taken your dynamic HTML, XML, JSON,
and DOM skills up a few notches, you'll have solved tons of puzzles, figured out how well snowboards sell in Vail, and even watched a boxing match. Sound interesting? Then what are you waiting for? Pick up Head Rush Ajax and learn Ajax and asynchronous programming the right way — the way that sticks.
If you've ever read a Head First book, you know what to expect: a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works. Head Rush ramps up the intensity with an even faster look and feel. Have your first working app before you finish Chapter 1, meet up with the nefarious PROJECT: CHAOS stealth team, and even settle the question of the Top 5 Blues CDs of all time. Leave boring, clunky websites behind with 8-tracks and hot pants — and get going with next-generation web programming.
Book News Annotation:
This isn't a reference book on using JavaScript code to create
asynchronous programming, it's a learning experience! The book's
unique visual format and informal style are designed to keep readers
emotionally engaged and stimulate deeper thinking with humor,
unexpected surprises, challenging exercises, and activities that
involve both sides of the brain and all the senses. Concepts are
presented in several different ways for different learning styles,
and every concept is illustrated with b&w photos and graphics, many
of people, because the brain pays more attention to pictures of
people than it does to things. So what does it look like? Imagine a
scrapbook inspired by Roy Lichtenstein, or maybe class notes
scribbled by Andy Warhol. The book does not spend much time
explaining the server-side programs used in the book. Readers should
be familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code. McLaughlin has
written other books on programming.
Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Synopsis:
Taking the reader beyond basic Web development with DHTML and JavaScript, "Head Rush Ajax" explains how asynchronous data requests and powerful event models can be used in the Ajax methodology. Written by a team of award-winning authors, the book includes hands-on activities and interactive content.
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
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JimAnderton, April 24, 2006 (view all comments by JimAnderton)
I've listened to several talks on Ajax, read a few articles, and even put together some sites that use it. I decided to read Head Rush Ajax by Brett McLaughlin with the hope that it would deepen my Ajax skills and help me get into more advanced uses of it. Before I get in to my personal opinion of this book, let me tell you a little about it. First, check out the table of contents:
1 Using Ajax: web applications for a new generation
2 Speaking the Language: making ajax requests
Interlude
3 She Blinded Me with Asynchrony: asynchronous apps
4 Web Page Forestry: the document object model
4.5 A Second Helping: devloping dom applications
5 Saying More with POST: post requests
Interlude
6 More Than Words Can Say: xml requests and responses
7 A Fight to the Finish: json versus xml
Appendix 1: A Few Special Bonus Gifts: extras
Appendix 2: "All I Want Is the Code": ajax and dom utilities
Focusing on the content for a moment, if you're a total HTML newb, you might want to focus on honing those skills before reading this book. And, if you're already a kick-butt web developer looking for an Ajax reference manual, this isn't it. However, if you're somewhere in the middle you should read on. If you are comfortable with HTML and have at least minimal Javascript and DHTML experience this might be a great first step into Ajax.
The author starts at the very beginning of the Ajax story and does a great job explaining what the various technologies are that make Ajax work. He uses a few different (comical but effective) example applications to teach the topics. You'll create apps like a snowboard sales report, a pizza ordering site, a top-5 CDs site. They're good examples because they're simple enough to just get the points across without losing you in the details. The book is not dependent on any particular server technology. It would be applicable for developers using asp, Java, php, etc. Toward the end of the book, there is a comparison of JSON and XML. Finally, in an appendix, there is a nice collection of various Ajax and web-related toolkits.
Now, a word about the overall style or approach of this book. You can see from the table of contents, the Head Rush style comes with a little attitude and more than a few corny jokes. This was my first Head Rush book and I must say the look and feel is a big departure from your typical technical book. There are LOTs of different fonts and graphics. The text is very conversational and easy to read. The style of the book makes for an enjoyable read and it does good job getting the entry-level developer into Ajax. Their goal is to keep you engaged to improve your retention. They hammer home the basics through repetition and varying methods of presentation.
So, what did I think? We'll, given that I am an experienced developer already somewhat familiar with Ajax, this book didn't go deep enough for me. But, while the content of the book was a little more basic than I had hoped, I did enjoy reading it. I found it easy to concentrate on even in a distracting environment. That's more than can be said for some more traditional technical books. The Head Rush style won't appeal to everyone so I highly recommend taking a look at the sample chapter posted on the O'Reilly site before investing. If you are completely new to Ajax and the style of the sample chapter appeals to you, I would highly recommend the book. Just keep in mind that, once you finish this book, you may want a second, more technical Ajax book to further deepen your skills.
Currently reading Pragmatic Ajax. (http://withat.com)
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780596102258
- Author:
- Publisher:
- O'Reilly Media
- Author:
- Author:
- Author:
- Author:
- Subject:
- Asynchronous transfer mode
- Subject:
- Programming Languages - CGI, Javascript, Perl, VBScript
- Subject:
- JavaScript (Computer program language)
- Subject:
- Programming Languages - XML
- Subject:
- Internet - Application Development
- Copyright:
- 2006
- Publication Date:
- March 2006
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Y
- Pages:
- 413
- Dimensions:
- 9.34x8.00x.95 in. 2.18 lbs.
