AJAX! Hey, What's this?

Are you using GMAIL from Google? You must have been really happy about the minimal time it takes to do requested functions within your mail account, such as labeling, viewing mails & more. A new scripting technique (not technology) used in the web development environment called "AJAX" have been crucial in such an environment.

AJAX stands for "Asynchronous JavaScript and XML". The core idea behind this is to reduce the request-response time between the web browser & the client, by exchanging small amounts of data with the server, by which the re-loading of the page doesn't happen on each user request that goes back to server. This precisely increases the user interactivity, ease of use & speed.

As usual, there are pros & cons of using any technique, as there are some with AJAX also such as:

Pros:

• User interface
• Bandwidth usage
• Separation of data, format, style and functions

Cons:

• Browser integration
• Response-time concerns
• Search engine optimization
• JavaScript reliability

There are several resources available on the net for AJAX, such as:

http://ajax.asp.net/
http://www.ajaxmatters.com/

Search Google for AJAX:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=AJAX&btnG=Search