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.

This book demonstrates not only how traditional web standards make Ajax possible, but also how these older technologies can give sites a modern Web 2.0 feel. It is intended for two very different groups of people: web developers, and project managers who need a general overview of how Ajax works. The different parts of the book reflect the needs of these different audiences. Part I, on Ajax fundamentals, is for project managers, and explains the basic technologies that form the core of Ajax and building Ajax applications. The rest of the book, for web developers, focuses on Ajax from a programming point of view, with sections on applying these technologies in an Ajax web application, integrating Ajax applications, and structuring them. Four appendices, each about 20 pages, provide background on XML and XSLT, the JavaScript Framework and Toolkit, the Web Service API Catalog, and Ajax risk references. Holdener is a web architect and developer. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)