Ajax

Ajax

(programming)

(Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) A collection of techniques for creating interactive web applications without having to reload the complete web page in response to each user input, thus making the interaction faster. AJAX typically uses the XMLHttpRequest browser object to exchange data asynchronously with the web server. Alternatively, an IFrame object or dynamically added <script> tags may be used instead of XMLHttpRequest.

Despite the name, Ajax can combine any browser scripting language (not just JavaScript) and any data representation (not just XML). Alternative data formats include HTML, plain text or JSON.

Several Ajax frameworks are now available to simplify Ajax development.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

Ajax (the greater)

archetypal Miles Gloriosus. [Br. Lit.: Troilus and Cressida]

See: Boastfulness

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Ajax

(the lesser) boastful and insolent; drowns due to vanity. [Gk. Myth.: Kravitz, 14]

See: Conceit

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Ajax (the Greater)

kills himself in rage over loss of Achilles’ armor. [Rom. Lit.: Aeneid]

See: Suicide

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

AJAX

(Asynchronous JAvaScript and XML) Using an enhancement in JavaScript that allows Web pages to be more interactive and behave like local applications, which are also known as "rich client" applications. AJAX allows the Web page to retrieve small amounts of data from the server without reloading the entire page.

Also known as "remote scripting," AJAX allows Web-based applications to be designed like LAN-based applications. Prior to AJAX, any retrieval of data from the server required that the entire Web page be refreshed in the user's computer. As a result, systems were often designed with less interaction; for example, to have the user submit a form only at the end, after all fields were filled in. In contrast, AJAX systems can validate one or two items at a time "behind the scenes" without making the session cumbersome, especially over slow connections.

The XMLHTTPRequest Object
The JavaScript function that makes AJAX possible is the XMLHTTPRequest object, which was added to the JavaScript runtime module in the Web browser. It was first available in IE 5, Mozilla 1.0, Safari 1.2 and Opera 8. The XMLHTTPRequest object returns the data formatted in a DOM document.

Web Workers
Subsequent to AJAX, Web Workers is another method for making Web-based applications function like locally installed applications. For more details, see Web Workers. See AJAX engine, AJAX framework, ARAX, rich client, JavaScript and DOM.

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