AJAX - The New Kid on the Web Block
01.19.2006
Gleb Popov and Amarjothi Natarajan
How many times did you have to wait for a web page to load? Just now I used our Web-based Intranet and while I was waiting for a page to load I was thinking how great it would be if the Intranet page would respond instantly. For example, when I clicked on the hyperlink, what if I didn't have to wait for a page to appear? Instead, I would see the web page instantly. This type of experience sounds very familiar to all of us - it's what happens when we launch a desktop application. Indeed, if you use desktop applications like Microsoft Office or Intuit Quicken, you get results instantly without having to wait. Wouldn't it be nice if web applications performed in the same way? Well, there's a solution to this and it's called AJAX.
AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript And XML. The technology isn't something new; the core of AJAX relies on existing Web components. Behind the scenes it uses JavaScript - a browser scripting language, and XML - a language used as a data transport between the end user's browser and software that runs on the server. The user sees AJAX through HTML and DHTML - technologies that are used to build websites and make them appear like desktop applications.
Internet giants - Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft - are investing heavily into AJAX-powered applications to help enhance their existing web systems, which range from ecommerce portals to online mail programs. Take a look at the new Windows Live from Microsoft. The Seattle-based giant aims to create a new way for people to use Office products online with the help of AJAX. Google and Yahoo released AJAX-powered Mail Portals that have Desktop-like experience and a general feel of a Desktop application. Google Maps uses AJAX in the heart of its Web functionality.
What makes AJAX so attractive and sensational that everybody is talking about it? The Wall Street Journal regards AJAX as "a big step toward the Holy Grail of having the kinds of speed and responsiveness in Web-based programs that's usually associated with desktop software."
An AJAX application offers more interactivity and experience similar to the desktop application. Traditionally, desktop applications - such as Microsoft Outlook - offer more robustness and instant response to the user. For example, using Outlook, you can click on the folder and get an immediate result; when you're composing an email, Outlook checks for new mail in the background; when you search for messages, results come up right away. This is what AJAX accomplishes - a faster, richer, and more interactive experience for the end-user.
Since AJAX is not a tangible product or a software package, it is not owned by any company and is not copyrighted. Two major web browser applications, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla FireFox, have supported this technology for years and are adding even better support for it in the upcoming releases.
The Worx Group successfully developed AJAX-based solutions for a number of clients and improved website usability and enriched user experience.
For example, Waterbury YMCA Events Content Management System uses AJAX to show local events to the end-users:
"Friends of Jimmy" Service - a place to get concert tickets in advance - uses AJAX in a user management module:
File Transfer Service - Get My File There - uses AJAX to transfer files from user computer to the server:
To learn more about how AJAX is revolutionized user's web-based experience, please
contact us today.
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