A definitive guide to Ajax, this text demonstrates how to build browser-based applications that function like desktop programs, using sophisticated server-aware approaches that give users information when they need it.

Is Ajax a new technology, or the same old stuff web developers have been using for years? Both, actually. This book demonstrates not only how tried-and-true web standards make Ajax possible, but how these older technologies allow you to give sites a decidedly modern Web 2.0 feel. Ajax: The Definitive Guide explains how to use standards like JavaScript, XML, CSS, and XHTML, along with the XMLHttpRequest object, to build browser-based web applications that function like desktop programs. You get a complete background on what goes into today's web sites and applications, and learn to leverage these tools along with Ajax for advanced browser searching, web services, mashups, and more. You discover how to turn a web browser and web site into a true application, and why developing with Ajax is faster, easier and cheaper. The book also explains: How to connect server-side backend components to user interfaces in the browser Loading and manipulating XML documents, and how to replace XML with JSON Manipulating the Document Object Model (DOM) Designing Ajax interfaces for usability, functionality, visualization, and accessibility Site navigation layout, including issues with Ajax and the browser's back button Adding life to tables & lists, navigation boxes and windows Animation creation, interactive forms, and data validation Search, web services and mash-ups Applying Ajax to business communications, and creating Internet games without plug-ins The advantages of modular coding, ways to optimize Ajax applications, and more This book also provides references to XML and XSLT, popular JavaScript Frameworks, Libraries, and Toolkits, and various Web Service APIs. By offering web developers a much broader set of tools and options, Ajax gives developers a new way to create content on the Web, while throwing off the constraints of the past. Ajax: The Definitive Guide describes the contents of this unique toolbox in exhaustive detail, and explains how to get the most out of it.

Reusable components and patterns for Ajax-driven applications Ajax is one of the latest and greatest ways to improve users’ online experience and create new and innovative web functionality. By allowing specific parts of a web page to be displayed without refreshing the entire page, Ajax significantly enhances the experience of web applications. It also lets web developers create intuitive and innovative interaction processes. Ajax for Web Application Developers provides the in-depth working knowledge of Ajax that web developers need to take their web applications to the next level. The book shows how to create an Ajax-driven web application from an object-oriented perspective, and it includes discussion of several useful Ajax design patterns. This detailed guide covers the creation of connections to a MySQL database with PHP 5 via a custom Ajax engine and shows how to gracefully format the response with CSS, JavaScript, and XHTML while keeping the data tightly secure. It also covers the use of four custom Ajax-enabled components in an application and how to create each of them from scratch. The final section of the book combines the individual code examples and techniques from earlier chapters of the book into one larger, Ajax-driven application—an internal web mail application that can be used in any user-based application, such as a community-based web application. Readers will learn not only how to create and use their own reusable Ajax components in this application but also how to connect their components to any future Ajax applications that they might build. Web Development/Ajax/JavaScript

The Definitive Guide to Ajax Web Application Development Evolve from the click-and-wait programming pattern to the latest Web 2.0 paradigm using this comprehensive guide to Ajax. Written by Web development expert Thomas Powell, the book lays out every feature of Ajax alongside detailed explanations and real-world code examples. Ajax: The Complete Reference explains how to create and test Ajax-enabled Web applications using the XMLHttpRequest object as well as alternative JavaScript-based communication mechanisms. You'll explore a variety of sample applications featuring emerging user-interface conventions and build applications that address real-world networking and security issues. A robust communication library is developed throughout the book that enables you to architect flexible Ajax applications. The latest technologies such as Web services, Flash-Ajax integration, client-side templates, Comet, and Offline Access are also covered. Discover the future of Web development today! Work with traditional JavaScript communication approaches like iframes Explore all the quirks and details in the XMLHttpRequest object Handle disparate data formats, including XML, JSON, CSV, YAML, and more Deal with networking issues, including timeouts, retries, response ordering, and a variety of server and content errors Simplify JavaScript programming using open-source Ajax libraries like YUI Secure Ajax applications using authentication, obfuscation, and encryption Implement common Ajax UI patterns such as auto suggest, click-to-edit, and drag-and-drop Solve troubling Ajax architecture problems, including back button, history, and bookmarking issues Learn Ajax's role in Web 2.0 and Web services Explore push style communication using Comet and Flash Discover the future of offline Web application access and operation

The Definitive Guide to HTML5 provides the breadth of information you'll need to start creating the next generation of HTML5 websites. It covers all the base knowledge required for standards-compliant, semantic, modern website creation. It also covers the full HTML5 ecosystem and the associated APIs that complement the core HTML5 language. The Definitive Guide to HTML5 begins by tackling the basics of HTML5, ensuring that you know best practices and key uses of all of the important elements, including those new to HTML5. This section also covers extended usage of CSS3, JavaScript, and DOM manipulation, making you proficient in all core aspects of modern website creation. The final part of the book covers the associated W3C APIs that surround the HTML5 specification. You will achieve a thorough working knowledge of the Geolocation API, web storage, creating offline applications, and the new drag and drop functionality. The Definitive Guide to HTML5 also dives into the key media enhancements of HTML5 and its surrounding technologies: Canvas, video and audio.

This practical guide shows you how to make your Java web applications more responsive and dynamic by incorporating new Ajaxian features, including suggestion lists, drag-and-drop, and more. Java developers can choose between many different ways of incorporating Ajax, from building JavaScript into your applications "by hand" to using the new Google Web Toolkit (GWT). Ajax on Java starts with an introduction to Ajax, showing you how to write some basic applications that use client-side JavaScript to request information from a Java servlet and display it without doing a full page reload. It also presents several strategies for communicating between the client and the server, including sending raw data, and using XML or JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) for sending more complex collections of data. The book then branches out into different approaches for incorporating Ajax, which include: The Prototype and script.aculo.us Javascript libraries, the Dojo and Rico libraries, and DWR Integrating Ajax into Java ServerPages (JSP) applications Using Ajax with Struts Integrating Ajax into Java ServerFaces (JSF) applications Using Google's GWT, which offers a pure Java approach to developing web applications: your client-side components are written in Java, and compiled into HTML and JavaScript Ajax gives web developers the ability to build applications that are more interactive, more dynamic, more exciting and enjoyable for your users. If you're a Java developer and haven't tried Ajax, but would like to get started, this book is essential. Your users will be grateful.

Provides information on building interactive Web applications using Ajax.