Six myths about Ajax

What exactly is Ajax? is a method that is not too easy to master, but can increase the interactivity of the website? is the cornerstone of Web2.0? or another round of network development in the bandwagon? Just like the previously popular flashing fonts, splash pages, and the use of rounded corners, but this dynamic more powerful?

Let's take a look at some of the myths about Ajax, and dig through the mist and uncover the truth.

Myth One: AJAX is the abbreviation for asynchronous JavaScript and XML. When you write this word, you should spell it in capital letters or you'll be ignorant.

In fact, Ajax is more than just an acronym, according to the creator of the word Ajax, Jesse James. It is the whole of a series of technologies that are combined in a specific way. It includes Javascript,css, DOM, and the use of XMLHttpRequest objects for data transfer between clients and servers. The data format that is uploaded from the server to the client is not necessarily XML, it can be JSON (an object in Javascript), or other data format. In short, the transmission of data is small, incremental. So, if you want to show off that you're a very savvy technical expert, use AJAX instead of Ajax. You decide whether you want to show off yourself.

Myth two: Look at Gmail and Google Map, Ajax will make your site more usable.

In fact, using AJAX can make your site more usable, but it can also make your site a horrible and obnoxious one. The new Yahoo TV program list is such a negative example.

Myth Three: Ajax is just a face-saving project-just on the surface looks pretty cool and visual effects.

In fact, if properly designed and implemented, Ajax Web applications should be more scalable than traditional CGI types, with server-side processing (such as ASP.net or Java server pages,jsp) network applications with better scalability and faster response times for users. For technical details, see the first part of Ajax and Rest, written by IBM's Bill Higgins. This is my summary: the traditional CGI type, server-side processing as the main network application, the client does not save (network application execution) state (stateless), the state of the Save is entirely implemented by the server (Stateful server). This allows server-generated results to be used only once and not cached (cache) for reuse. This undermines the extensibility principle in the rest architecture. And Ajax can save the state on the client, so that common resources, such as re-use of data and source programs, can be effectively cached and reused.

Myth Four: Ajax for general network developers difficult to master

Ajax is really not easy. But its use is becoming progressively less difficult. There are a number of factors that make Ajax difficult to implement: support for different browser compatibility, lack of development tools, and the need for changes in the way developers think--from the past to server-side processing as the main network application, to the new in the client save state, gradually upload data applications. But as Ajax becomes more popular, many development tools and platform providers, as well as open source software developers, are working to address this problem. Here are a few of the tools that are useful for AJAX developers: the Google Web Development Toolkit (for Java Developers), the Dojo Cross-browser platform, Script.aculo.us, and the visual effects that are used to debug JavaScript programs, Monitor XMLHttpRequest (Firefox plugin) Firebug, and so on.

Myth Five: Ajax will destroy the user experience of using the browser (Ajax breaks the browser model)

Indeed, Ajax applications can cause problems with the browser, such as breaking the "Return key" feature, allowing users to selves here, so that users with disabilities are completely unable to use the site. But traditional technologies may also have similar problems: the use of frames (frames) or flash often destroys the "Return key" feature; even without Ajax, bad design can make a site completely dizzy for users, and even the simplest HTML makes it hard to make the site work for people with disabilities. These are the aspects that need to be consciously noticed and learned, not just the problems that exist in AJAX applications.

Myth Six: Ajax is a key component of web2.0

It depends on how you define web2.0. I think the difference between web2.0 and web1.0 mainly lies in the social level, not the technical level. The most important paradigm shift from web1.0 to web2.0 (paradigm shift) is that web2.0 is a two-way network, a read-write network and a social network. Instead of the network that "let's open our own online store". By this definition, we can implement web2.0 without Ajax at all. Most blogs don't use Ajax; without Ajax, Wikipedia can still glow; social networks don't need Ajax; Flickr is fascinating because it is a social platform for photos, not the DHTML technology it uses.