Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 304 pages
- Published by: Pragmatic Bookshelf April 10, 2006
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0976694085
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0976694083
-
Book Dimensions:
8.9 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
- Weighs: 1.5 pounds
Product Description
It's not just another book on Ajax. It's
Pragmatic Ajax: a concise, complete look at a new way of envisioning and implementing browser-based applications.
Ajax turns static web pages into interactive applications. Now you can deploy rich-client applications to clients without sacrificing the easy deployment of web applications. But to many folks, Ajax seems difficult. That's why we produced this book. As a Pragmatic guide, it strips away the mystery and shows you the easy way to make Ajax work for you.
We cover the the basics of DHTML, JavaScript, and the infamous XmlHttpRequest call. You'll see how to add Ajax to existing programs, and design new applications to exploit the power of Web 2.0. Learn the three layers of Ajax framework, and when (and how) to use each. See how to create rich clients, use visual effects, add client-side validation, and handle forms. Write applications that degrade gracefully if clients don't support JavaScript. And see how to integrate your Ajaxified clients into Java, .NET, and Ruby on Rails server frameworks.
With Pragmatic Ajax, you'll:
- Understand the breadth of the Ajax/Web 2.0 landscape, and go-indepth on how Ajax works
- Learn how JavaScript works with your server-side framework
- See how to easily apply Ajax techniques to an existing application--and when not to
- Know what's coming by looking at new features and frameworks currently in active development.
Writing dynamic applications isn't that hard. Folks are awed by Google Maps, but it isn't rocket science (apart from the satellite pictures). As a special bonus, see how to implement your own Google Maps-like application using DHTML.
About The Author
Justin Gehtland is a partner and co-founder of Relevance, a training and consulting com-pany located in the Research Triangle, North Carolina. He has been an application de-veloper since 1990, and a web application developer since 1995. His technology back-ground includes all the usual suspects. He is currently focused on lightweight develop-ment using Ruby, .NET and Java.
Ben Galbraith is a frequent technical speaker, occasional consultant, and author of several technology books. He is a co-founder of Ajaxian.com, was recently Chief Technical Of-ficer for Amirsys, and is presently a consultant specializing in enterprise architecture and Swing/Ajax development. Ben presides over the Utah Java User's Group, is active in the Java Community Process, and tinkers on various open-source projects from time to time. He has delivered over one hundred technical presentations in 2005 at venues including JavaOne, TheServerSide.com Java Symposium, and the No Fluff Just Stuff Java Sympo-siums.
Dion Almaer is the other founder of Ajaxian.com, the leading source of the Ajax community. Dion has been writing rich web applications from the beginning, and is a columnist on Enterprise Java topics at openxource.com, onjava.com, TheServerSide.com, and of course his blog at almaer.com/blog. He enjoys writing, and speaking at events such as JavaOne, JavaPolis, TheServerSide Symposium, and the No Fluff Just Stuff symposium tour. He also participates on the Java Community Process expert groups, and the open source community as a whole.
Reader ReviewsThe only way to really learn Ajax (and the wider "Web 2.0") is write the code yourself, read sites like ajaxian.com, and understand Javascript. The writers behind this book know this because they have not infused a lot of overly complicated examples (as in "Ajax in Action"), but have instead given a wide survey of how Web 2.0 technologies work. The book starts out with a very readable overview of Ajax and follows that up with the best chapter in the book: a fascinating deconstruction of Google Maps. In subsequent chapters, they dive deeper into the XMLHTTPRequest and the mechanics of making asynchronous calls with Javascript. Since most people don't roll their own anymore, they cover client-side frameworks like prototype/scriptaculous and dojo. They cover server-side frameworks like DWR (Java), Rails (Ruby), and Sajax (PHP). They also cover alternate payload formats such as JSON. One thing to note here: AJAX used to refer to "Asynchronous Javascript and XML", but now that the suits have caught on to the term, it has become synonymous with richer web applications. Therefore, I think for the broader audience, AJAX === Web 2.0. Even this book blurs the distinction. For example, they cover some of scriptaculous' effects, which have nothing to do with Ajax. I did not find the chapter on debugging to be too great. For example, no mention of GreaseMonkey is made in the debugging section. I use this all the time to debug and inject stuff into my scripts. None of the chapters in this book is what I'd call comprehensive. It is a primer. The authors of this book have written a very concise, well-written introduction to the world of web 2.0.
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