Product DescriptionProfessional Ajax 2nd Edition provides a developer-level tutorial of Ajax techniques, patterns, and use cases. The book begins by exploring the roots of Ajax, covering how the evolution of the web and new technologies directly led to the development of Ajax techniques. A detailed discussion of how frames, JavaScript, cookies, XML, and XMLHttp requests (XHR) related to Ajax is included. After this introduction, the book moves on to cover the implementation of specific Ajax techniques. Request brokers such as hidden frames, dynamic iframes, and XHR are compared and contrasted, explaining when one method should be used over another. To make this discussion clearer, a brief overview of HTTP requests and responses is included.
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 2nd edition (ISBN: 0470109491)
Professional Web 2.0 Programming (ISBN: 0470087889)
Professional Rich Internet Applications: Ajax and Beyond (ISBN: 0470082801)
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Another good AJAX book for your bookshelf
This book was very helpful to me when I was creating an executive-level presentation on AJAX because of the AJAX architecture diagram in chapter 1. More importantly, this book helped me research how to parse an RSS news feed with Atom.
But this book has much more than introductory material - it has valuable information on AJAX Principles, Who's Using AJAX, AJAX Patterns, AJAX Libraries (such as Prototype and jQuery), XML, JSON, RSS with AJAX, and AJAX Debugging Tools.
Rating: - Do not waste your time
This is a great book but entirely irrelevant in todays world. The libraries and methods outlined here are outdated. With modern javascript frameworks like jQuery and Prototype there is, in my humble opinion, certainly no need to delve into the techniques of this book.
Rating: - Nice intro to AJAX
A concise and informative introduction to AJAX technologies. A lot of great examples, including famous ones like Google maps and Gmail make learning about AJAX relevant and fun. A short history of AJAX and how it evolved into what it is today was also nice. I was hoping for more of a reference guide, but other than that, no real complaints here.
Rating: - Not Happy
Wed 10/03/2007 5:15 pm. I'm not sure who writes these positive reviews, but an early example in the book ("The Hidden Frame Technique", starting on page 21) is obviously broken. The book shows "HiddenFrameExample1.htm" in an illustration but there is no such file in the ProAjax2ePHP.zip file downloaded from wrox. Judging by quotes on the internet probably from the first edition, I'd guess the actual file is probably GetCustomerData.php (?) but whether it is or not, that file has an obvious syntax ... Read More
Rating: - Very well written. Excellent resource.
I'm a senior ASP.NET/Web developer with no Ajax experience. This is my first Ajax book. I wanted to learn Ajax from the ground up, not just the Microsoft controls. Our ecommerce site is very highly trafficed and there's no forgiveness for inefficiencies. This book certainly fulfilled my expectations, but it also introduced me to some new worlds of concepts that I did not expect. For instance, the chapter on Ajax Patterns: It's a new way of thinking about Web Development. I'm very impressed with its ... Read More
- Another good AJAX book for your bookshelf
- Do not waste your time
- Not Happy
