Provides information on using Ajax in building Web applications.

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.

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.

Provides information on analyzing, designing, and writing object-oriented software.

Is your data dragging you down? Are your tables all tangled up? Well we've got the tools to teach you just how to wrangle your databases into submission. Using the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory SQL learning experience, Head First SQL has a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works, not a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep. Maybe you've written some simple SQL queries to interact with databases. But now you want more, you want to really dig into those databases and work with your data. Head First SQL will show you the fundamentals of SQL and how to really take advantage of it. We'll take you on a journey through the language, from basic INSERT statements and SELECT queries to hardcore database manipulation with indices, joins, and transactions. We all know "Data is Power" - but we'll show you how to have "Power over your Data". Expect to have fun, expect to learn, and expect to be querying, normalizing, and joining your data like a pro by the time you're finished reading!

Head First C# is a complete learning experience for learning how to program with C#, XAML, the .NET Framework, and Visual Studio. Fun and highly visual, this introduction to C# is designed to keep you engaged and entertained from first page to last. Updated for Windows 8.1 and Visual Studio 2013, and includes projects for all previous versions of Windows (included in the book, no additional downloading or printing required). You’ll build a fully functional video game in the opening chapter, and then learn how to use classes and object-oriented programming, draw graphics and animation, and query data with LINQ and serialize it to files. And you'll do it all by creating games, solving puzzles, and doing hands-on projects. By the time you're done, you'll be a solid C# programmer—and you'll have a great time along the way! Create a fun arcade game in the first chapter, and build games and other projects throughout the book Learn how to use XAML to design attractive and interactive pages and windows Build modern Windows Store apps using the latest Microsoft technology Learn WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) using the downloadable WPF Learner's Guide Using the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) pattern to create robust architecture Build a bonus Windows Phone project and run it in the Visual Studio Windows Phone emulator Projects in the book work with all editions of Visual Studio, including the free Express editions.