If the question you have about Ajax is, 'I'm on a deadline--what tools are available, and how can I use them now?' Foundations of Ajax is your book. — Joey deVilla, Dr. Dobb's Journal

Where Foundations of Ajax shines is its no-nonsense introduction, implementation, and expansion of the basics of Ajax programming, leaving the reader confidently ready to utilize the concepts within. — Craig Maloney, Slashdot Reviewer

Foundations of Ajax hits the mark with its recipe-style format and examples . . . The elements of each example are well explained and easy to understand but aren't diluted with pages of theory and whys. This book is all how. — Gregg Bolinger

The one big thing that impressed me about this book was the fact that it...has so many detailed, in-depth code samples and discussions. It doesn't just present code samples though. It takes you through the how's and the why's, which is cool. — greg hughes - dot - net

Ajax burst onto the Web development scene by offering highly interactive, desktop-like Web applications that can be deployed through any modern Web browser without the need for special plug-ins. Ajax is built on existing Web technologies such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, and it is used in conjunction with your favorite server-side language. Foundations of Ajax explains how to combine these technologies effectively to implement Ajax into your new or existing Web applications. Like you, we are developers who are in the trenches, tasked with building Web-enabled applications that provide real value to our customers. As the Web continues to grow, the demand for more expressive and engaging interfaces will continue toincrease.

Much of the early hype surrounding Ajax centered on its use by Internet powerhouses such as Google and Amazon. However, just because the initial forays into Ajax were pioneered by leading software development firms doesn't mean your application wouldn't also benefit from these techniques. You already know how to develop Web applications, so this book uses specific, focused examples to teach the Ajax tools and techniques you'll need to bring your applications to life. Armed with this book and your existing development expertise, you too will be able to apply Ajax techniques to your application to enrich the end user's experience.

When we first saw the potential of Ajax, we knew we had to start leveraging it for our own applications. Along the way we've learned some hard-earned knowledge that we thought needed to be shared with the rest of the development community. With this book you'll be able to easily extend your own applications with Ajax and have fun while doing it. We hope that someday we'll be reading about your great Ajax-enabled application

Intended for experienced web developers, this guide explains XMLHttpRequest object's properties and methods, how it communicates with the server, and techniques for adding Ajax to an application. Code examples illustrate how to document JavaScript code with JSDoc, validate HTML content with Firefox extensions, search for nodes using DOM Inspector, test JavaScript with JsUnit, and debug Ajax requests with Greasemonkey. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Google Maps, Google Suggest, Gmail, Tada List--these are all examples of highly dynamic Web applications. Leading technology companies are adopting Ajax techniques, and with this groundbreaking book as their companion, readers can lead the way and get ahead of the game.

Ajax burst onto the Web development scene by offering highly interactive, desktop-like Web applications that can be deployed through any modern Web browser without the need for special plug-ins. Ajax is built on existing Web technologies such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, and it is used in conjunction with your favorite server-side language. Foundations of Ajax explains how to combine these technologies effectively to implement Ajax into your new or existing Web applications. Like you, we are developers who are in the trenches, tasked with building Web-enabled applications that provide real value to our customers. As the Web continues to grow, the demand for more expressive and engaging interfaces will continue to increase.

Much of the early hype surrounding Ajax centered on its use by Internet powerhouses such as Google and Amazon. However, just because the initial forays into Ajax were pioneered by leading software development firms doesn't mean your application wouldn't also benefit from these techniques. You already know how to develop Web applications, so this book uses specific, focused examples to teach the Ajax tools and techniques you'll need to bring your applications to life. Armed with this book and your existing development expertise, you too will be able to apply Ajax techniques to your application to enrich the end user's experience.

When we first saw the potential of Ajax, we knew we had to start leveraging it for our own applications. Along the way we've learned some hard-earned knowledge that we thought needed to be shared with the rest of the development community. With this book you'll be able to easily extend your own applications with Ajax and have funwhile doing it. We hope that someday we'll be reading about your great Ajax-enabled application

Ajax is hot news for developers! With examples like Google Maps, Google Suggest, Gmail, and Tada List, we have highly dynamic web applications that are nearly as feature rich as their thick client brethren. Using the Ajax techniques in this book, you can provide your customers with the rich user experience they have come to expect while still enjoying the ease of deployment you've come to expect of web applications. In this Ajax book you will also learn that browser-based applications have none of the complex distribution problems that plague thick-client applications. Once a browser-based application is deployed to the Web server, it is available to all users without the need for a costly, complex, and error-prone installation process. Browser-based applications are accessible from any platform with a modern Web browser, whether the operating system is Windows, Unix, Mac OS X, or Linux. As the authors point out in this book, an Ajax application is very similar to the web applications we're already familiar with. It's made from many of the same components and operates in the same way and to the same standards. The difference is that it incorporates an "Ajax engine" that negates the start-stop nature of traditional web interaction and drives the whole process along. A quick look at an Ajax application like Google Maps will demonstrate the difference to the user experience very clearly. Gone are the constant page-refreshes and instead the user is presented with a smooth, responsive interface that seamlessly reacts to their requests.

Ajax an Introduction.- The XMLHttpRequest Object.- Communicating with the Server.- Simple Application of Ajax.- The Ultimate JavaScript Toolbox.- Developing High Quality JavaScript.- JavaScript Debugging Tools and Techniques.- Examples Using Selected Server-side Technologies.