Product Description
Once a basic understanding of the various request types is discussed, the book moves on to provide in-depth examples of how and when to use Ajax in a web site or web application. Different data transmission formats, including plain text, HTML, XML, and JSON are discussed for their advantages and disadvantages. Also included is a discussion on web services and how they may be used to perform Ajax techniques. Next, more complex topics are covered. A chapter introducing a request management framework explores how to manage all of the requests inside of an Ajax application. Ajax debugging techniques are also discussed.
The last part of the book walks through the creation of two full-fledged Ajax web applications. The first, FooReader.NET, is an Ajax-powered RSS reader. The second, called AjaxMail, is an Ajax-enabled email system. Both of these applications incorporate many of the techniques discussed throughout the book.
Professional Ajax 2nd edition is written for Web application developers looking to enhance the usability of their web sites and web applications and intermediate JavaScript developers looking to further understand the language. Readers should have familiarity with XML, XSLT, Web Services, PHP or C#, HTML, CSS. This book is not aimed at beginners without a basic understanding of the aforementioned technologies. Also, a good understanding of JavaScript is vitally important to understanding this book. Those readers without such knowledge should instead refer to books such as Beginning JavaScript, Second Edition (Wrox, 2004, ISBN: 978-0-7645-5587-9) and Professional JavaScript for Web Developers (Wrox, 2005, ISBN: 978-0-7645-7908-0).
Professional Ajax 2nd edition adds nearly 200 pages of new and expanded coverage compared to the first edition. Some of the new topics covered here include:
- Ajax Libraries including the Yahoo! Connection Manager, Prototype, and jQuery
- Request Management with Priority Queues and the RequestManager Object
- Comet push-based web systems and HTTP streaming
- Maps and Mashups with Geocoding, Google Maps API and Yahoo! Maps API
- Ajax Debugging with FireBug and Microsoft Fiddler
ASP.NET AJAX Extensions (formerly code-named "Atlas")
And of course the Second Edition retains and updates the core first edition content including:
- the range of request brokers (including the hidden frame technique, iframes, and XMLHttp) and explains when one should be used over another
- different Ajax techniques and patterns for executing client-server communication
- Ajax patterns including predictive fetch, page preloading, submission throttling, incremental field and form validation, periodic refresh, multi-stage download and more
- Syndication with RSS, Atom, and XParser
- JSON and creating an autosuggest textbox example
- web site widgets for a news ticker, weather information, web search, and site search
- Ajax Frameworks JSpan, DWR, and Ajax.NET Professional
- A Web-based RSS/Atom aggregator case study
- An AjaxMail case study
This book is also available as part of the 4-book JavaScript and Ajax Wrox Box (ISBN: 0470227818). This 4-book set includes:
- Professional JavaScript for Web Developers (ISBN: 0764579088)
- Professional Ajax ...
From the Back Cover
This book discusses the range of request brokers (including the hidden frame technique, iframes, and XMLHttp) and explains when one should be used over another. You will also learn different Ajax techniques and patterns for executing client–server communication on your web site and in web applications. Each chapter builds on information in the previous chapters so that by the end of the book, you will have gained the practical knowledge necessary to implement your own Ajax solutions.
What you will learn from this book
- Different methods for achieving Ajax communication and when to use each
- A variety of Ajax design patterns to use in specific data retrieval circumstances
- Techniques for using Ajax with RSS and Atom to produce a web–based news aggregator
- How to use JavaScript Object Notation as an alternate data transmission format for Ajax communications
- How to create Ajax widgets, such as a weather display and news ticker, that can be included in your web site
Who this book is for
This book is for web developers who want to enhance the usability of their sites and applications. Familiarity with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS is necessary, as is experience with a server–side language such as PHP or a .NET language.
Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real–world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.
