JavaScript is carrying more and more programming load lately as Ajax has become popular. Scripting Ajax from scratch isn't much fun, but fortunately there are libraries to help. Prototype and Scriptaculous will let you get much more work done in much less time, automating tasks from processing XMLHTTP requests to creating animations that draw attention to your interfaces. This Short Cut demonstrates how to use Prototype for a wide range of tasks, including event handling, DOM processing, string and form process, and Ajax communications. It explores Scriptaculous' visual effects library, from pulsate to squish to fold and beyond. Need interface components? You'll find form autocompletion as well as drag and drop support. In addition to sample code and explanation, the Short Cut includes member references for both Prototype and Scriptaculous.

Using proven examples and explaining concepts step by step, this book shows you how building Ajax-enabled sites and applications allows more interactive user interfaces than ever before. You’ll learn about the differences in capabilities between client-side and server-side development techniques, as well as how Ajax crosses this boundary. You’ll also discover how Ajax techniques can be summed up by patterns (which are development models that you’ll use repeatedly). With a mastery of these techniques, you’ll be able to breathe new life into your Web sites.

One of the most basic laws of a web application is that the client, not the server, must initiate any communication between the two. There are a number of common–use cases where, ideally, the server would like to talk to the client—dashboards and monitoring apps, chat rooms and other collaborations, and progress reports on long–running processes. Comet (a.k.a. Reverse Ajax) provides a mechanism for enabling this. Comet is moderately complex to implement. But this practical, hands–on book gets you going. In Part 1 of this book, we start by examining the use cases, and look at the simple alternatives to Comet and how far they can satisfy your needs. In some situations, though, only Comet will do. In Part 2, we demonstrate how to set up and run a Comet–based application. With this book, be a part of the next generation, Ajax 2.0.

In Practical PHP Web 2.0 Applications, PHP, MySQL, CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript/Ajax development techniques are brought together to show you how to create the hottest PHP web applications, from planning and design up to final implementation, without going over unnecessary basics that will hold you back. This book includes must-have application features such as search functionality, maps, blogs, dynamic image galleries, and personalized user areas. It covers everything in a practical, tutorial style so you can start working on your own projects as quickly as possible.

Ajax can bring many advantages to an existing web application without forcing you to redo the whole thing. This book explains how you can add Ajax to enhance, rather than replace, the way your application works. For instance, if you have a traditional web application based on submitting a form to update a table, you can enhance it by adding the capability to update the table with changes to the form fields, without actually having to submit the form. That's just one example. Adding Ajax is for those of you more interested in extending existing applications than in creating Rich Internet Applications (RIA). You already know the "business-side" of applications-web forms, server-side driven pages, and static content-and now you want to make your web pages livelier, more fun, and much more interactive. This book: Provides an overview of Ajax technologies, and the importance of developing a strategy for changing your site before you sit down to code Explains the heart and soul of Ajax: how to work with the XMLHttpRequest object Introduces and demonstrates several important Ajax libraries, including Prototype, script.aculo.us, rico, Mochikit Explores the interactive element that is Ajax, including how to work with events and event handlers that work across browsers Introduces the concept of web page as space, and covers three popular approaches to managing web space Explains how to make data updates, including adding new data, deleting, and making updates, all from within a single page Describes the effects Ajax has on the Web-breaking the back button, losing browser history, dynamic effects that disappear when the page is refreshed, and more Covers advanced CSS effects, including drag and drop "scroll bars", pagination, and the use of SVG and the Canvas object Explores mashups-Ajax's ability to combine data from different web services in any number of ways, directly in our web pages You don't need to start over to use Ajax. You can simply add to what you already have. This book explains how.

Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS in One Hour a Day, Sixth Edition is the latest edition of the original worldwide bestseller. The entire book has been thoroughly revised and refined to include new detailed coverage of HTML5, the next major revision of the core language of the World Wide Web, HTML. Work on the HTML5 specification is still ongoing, but parts of HTML5 are already being implemented in new versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Opera.

Ajax, the popular term for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is one of the most important combinations of technologies for web developers to know these days. With its rich grouping of technologies, Ajax developers can create interactive web applications with XML-based web services, using JavaScript in the browser to process the web server response. Taking complete advantage of Ajax, however, requires something more than your typical "how-to" book. What it calls for is Ajax Hacks from O'Reilly. This valuable guide provides direct, hands-on solutions that take the mystery out of Ajax's many capabilities. Each hack represents a clever way to accomplish a specific task, saving you countless hours of searching for the right answer. A smart collection of 80 insider tips and tricks, Ajax Hacks covers all of the technology's finer points. Want to build next-generation web applications today? This book can show you how. Among the multitude of topics addressed, it shows you techniques for: Using Ajax with Google Maps and Yahoo Maps Displaying Weather.com data Scraping stock quotes Fetching postal codes Building web forms with auto-complete functionality Ajax Hacks also features a number of advanced hacks for accelerated web developers. Discover how to create huge, maintainable bookmarklets, how to use client-side storage for Ajax applications, and how to call a built-in Java object from JavaScript using Ajax. The book even addresses best practices for testing Ajax applications and improving maintenance, performance, and reliability for JavaScript code. The latest in O"Reilly's celebrated Hacks series, Ajax Hacks smartly complements other O'Reilly titles such as Head Rush Ajax and JavaScript: The Definitive Guide.