Evolutionary Refinement in Web Technology Using AJAX

Anika Sinha, Instructor,
Lake Washington Technical College

AJAX isn’t a technology. AJAX, or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, comprises of a group of technologies as XHTML, JavaScript technology, DHTML, and DOM that have come together in a powerful new way enabling greater and definitely faster interactivity. AJAX enabled applications look and act very similar to traditional desktop applications without relying on plug-ins or browser-specific features.

This paper deals with the nature of advancement and its cumulative effect in web application community brought forth by the usage of AJAX. I have tried to unveil the involved technologies bundled together providing “the AJAX effect” – all this is from an overview perspective that has made possible an extremely efficient Web development an easy reality.

Google Maps, GMail, Yahoo's Flickr, America Online's AIM Mail, 24SevenOffice and Microsoft's Virtual Earth are just to name a few , are high-profile examples of AJAX usage and they vividly demonstrate the flexibility and utility of the latest web programming trend.

Comparative Analysis to Demystify AJAX

Traditional web applications essentially used to submit forms, with user inputs, to a web server. The web server after necessary processing responds via dynamically generated new web page. Because the server must send a whole new page each time, applications were kill on time and server resources.

AJAX interaction model, on the other hand, can send requests to the web server to retrieve only the data that is needed; it may use SOAP or some other XML-based web services dialect to achieve the same. On the client, JavaScript processes the web server's response, and may then modify the document's content through the DOM to show the user that an action has been completed. The result is a more responsive application, and vastly reduced Web server processing time. Hence the core techniques are centered around asynchronous communication to the server without a page refresh.

Longevity of AJAX

AJAX will be around for a long time…
For with a definite increase in users demanding Rich Internet Applications where
AJAX + Tools + Framework + Controls = Rich Internet Apps
Technology equation above clearly attributes the richness of applications to “AJAX factor”.

Other points in AJAX favor includes:

• No new infrastructure needed
• Utilize existing skills
• Much richer GUI than today
• Meets most users needs for responsiveness
• Much faster response times
• No distribution hassles
• Cross-Platform Browser Support
• Reduced bandwidth utilization
• Grass roots developer interest & support
• Vendors implementing AJAX frameworks

AJAX and the Web Application Community

It’s only a matter of time before AJAX support is fully integrated into web application server platforms.
In the meantime, AJAX will begin to change the marketplace by:

1. Allowing companies to improve existing Web applications incrementally by allowing
   evolutionary changes to existing applications, not ground-up reimplementation.
2. Supporting rapid innovations for future web based applications
3. Reducing the learning curve across organizations
4. Last but not the least AJAX reduces server load by off-loading processing to the browser

Thereby providing a more dynamic experience for users with bandwidth limitations, such as those on dial-up and mobile connections.

Technical Advancement in AJAX

The core of AJAX lies in a Browser based object named XMLHttpRequest which allows the browser to invoke remote calls back to the server without the need to reload the current page. This object or component is available in all modern browsers -- Firefox 1.0+, Internet Explorer 6.0+, Safari 1.2+ -- if there is any limitation to deploying AJAX on an application, this would be it, the Browser not having the capabilities to execute XMLHttpRequest.

Conclusion

AJAX applications represent the best of both worlds: the responsiveness of desktop applications combined with the simplicity and usability of traditional Web applications.
AJAX is a key development for Web applications, and its importance will only grow. And because there are so many developers who already know how to use these technologies, there shall definitely be many more organizations reaping the competitive advantage that AJAX provides.