Asynchronous JavaScript and XML – is not actually a programming language but a group of technologies used together to create fast and dynamic web pages.

What is AJAX?

It is a group of related methods used by software developers such as Berkshire-based Liquid Modules to create web applications with dynamic and intuitive interfaces.

Clients have benefited from our AJAX work with interactive applications for a variety of sites.

This group of technologies enables developers to build systems where data is exchanged with a server to update parts of a web page without the need to reload the whole page, meaning the page refreshes quicker and thus uses less bandwidth saving time and money.

While JavaScript is not the only language to support this, it is the most common as it is compatible with most of the latest browsers.

In the past, most websites were based on HTML pages where every change, no matter how minor, made by the user involved a full reload of the page from the server. This meant the page disappeared and was then brought back to the screen after a delay as all content was re-sent.

Asynchronous loading of content first became practical when Java applets were introduced in the first version of the Java language in 1995. In 1996, Internet Explorer introduced the iframe element to HTML, which also enabled asynchronous loading. In April 2000 Microsoft filed a patent on the basic Ajax technology, which was granted in June 2006, related to ASP. In 1999, Microsoft created the XMLHTTP ActiveX control in Internet Explorer 5, which was later adopted by Mozilla, Safari, Opera and other browsers as the XMLHttpRequest JavaScript object.

In 2000, asynchronous technologies came to the fore with the introduction of Outlook Web Access and then in 2004 with Gmail and Google Maps.

The term Ajax was coined on February 18, 2005 by Jesse James Garrett in an article entitled "Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications", based on techniques used on Google web pages.

How we use AJAX

It's work has led to more user friendly web pages and developers have found an increasing range of sites which benefit from this kind of programming to increase interaction making a website feel more like an application.

One of the most popular uses is the Google-style predictive text. A user begins typing into an input field and the AJAX programming enables the site to auto-complete the words based on predictive text. Polls on the side of a web page have also proved popular.

It has been used to develop simple but extensive translation services on web pages and blogs. Clients across Berkshire and further afield have benefited from improved interactivity on their sites by working with us on the development phase or whilst performing upgrades and adding functionality.

AJAX programming should be considered if you are building an application that involves multiple forms submitting data to a server, if you are hosting photo galleries online, uploading a large amount of news, blogs or directories and if response times are critical to the user. It is not necessary if your site relies on static pages, is accessed via an older style browser, is rarely updated or is based mainly on text.

Advantages

• The web page/application is much more responsive as only the altered data is re-sent and the user experiences no tangible delay.
• If a page experiences an error, other sections are not affected and the entered data is not lost.
• Cost effective scalability
• Traffic to and from the server is reduced and less bandwidth is required

Disadvantages

• It is a more complex way of building a web application than the traditional way. It can increase the time and cost to develop a project so if your site falls into one of the categories where it is not essential, it might be worth considering using another technology.
• Browser history and bookmarks do not restore the exact page state as the URL remains unchanged even if parts of the page were altered so additional work is involved to save the current page details for later use.
• Search engines are unable to index websites written entirely using AJAX, so it is best to consider programming with it for small sections within the site.
• Older browsers do not have full support for JavaScript or the XMLHttpRequest object

Please get in contact with us to discuss your project requirements, our team who are always happy to talk without obligation and offer a free initial consultation.

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