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How does AJAX work?

Answer 1

+1 A:

that is ajax. you cannot use ajax without javascript. you should look at jquery and prototype examples to get an idea of usage.

sfusion 2009-10-02 14:55:23

You can do AJAX with VBScript, according to some sources. No good reason to do it, though. :-)

Nosredna 2009-10-02 15:06:53

No, you can't. You can do AVAX with VBScript.

Stefan Kendall 2009-10-02 15:51:09

Heh. I heard that AJAX is Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Except it doesn't have to be async, it doesn't have to be JavaScript, and it doesn't have to be XML.

Nosredna 2009-10-02 19:48:13

Answer 2

A:

What you are trying to do is technically ajax. Ajax creates xhtml fragment transactions to update sections of a page. Javascript makes these get requests nice and neat.

whatnick 2009-10-02 14:56:07

Answer 3

+3 A:

AJAX stands for Asynchronous Javascript and XHTML. AJAX supports partial updates to pages without having to post the entire page back to the server.

There are plenty of options for AJAX. The two most notable (arguably) are Microsoft's ASP.NET AJAX (formerly Atlas) and jQuery.

ASP.NET AJAX is relatively easy to set up if you're already familiar with ASP.NET. jQuery is good if you already know javascript, and allows very granular control over the querying and updating of your page.

HTH

Dave Swersky 2009-10-02 14:56:53

XML, not XHTML, right?

Nosredna 2009-10-02 19:47:39

Answer 4

+5 A:

AJAX typically involves sending HTTP requests from client to server and processing the server's response, without reloading the entire page. (Asynchronously).

Javascript generally does the submission and receives the data response from the server (traditionally XML, often other less vermbose formats like JSON)

The Javascript then may update the page DOM dynamically to update the user's view.

Thus 'Asychronous Javascript And XML'.

There are other options to update the user's view without reloading the page, things like Flash and Applets, but these don't sound like good solutions for your case. Sounds like Javascript is the way to go. There's loads of good library support around, like jQuery as is used on this site, so you don't need to actually write much Javascript yourself.

Brabster 2009-10-02 14:57:07

I like this answer.@Verrtex all you have to know is about XMLHttpRequest.

enguerran 2009-10-02 15:03:24

Answer 5

+2 A:

The essence of AJAX is this:

Your pages can browse the web and update their own content while the user is doing other things.

That is, your javascript can send asynchronous GET and POST requests (usually via an XMLHttpRequest object) then use the results of those requests to modify its page (via Document Object Model manipulation).

Jeff Sternal 2009-10-02 14:58:36

Answer 6

+6 A:

Ajax is more than reload just a part of the page. Ajax stands for Asynchronous Javascript And Xml.

The only part of Ajax that you need is the XMLHttpRequest object from javascript. You have to use it to load and reload small part of your html as a div or any other tags.

Read that example and you will be pro sooner as you think!

<html>
<body>

<script type="text/javascript">
function ajaxFunction()
{
var xmlhttp;
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
  {
  // code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
  xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
  }
else if (window.ActiveXObject)
  {
  // code for IE6, IE5
  xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
  }
else
  {
  alert("Your browser does not support XMLHTTP!");
  }
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
{
if(xmlhttp.readyState==4)
  {
  document.myForm.time.value=xmlhttp.responseText;
  }
}
xmlhttp.open("GET","time.asp",true);
xmlhttp.send(null);
}
</script>

<form name="myForm">
Name: <input type="text" name="username" onkeyup="ajaxFunction();" />
Time: <input type="text" name="time" />
</form>

</body>
</html>

enguerran 2009-10-02 14:59:41

Despite the namen AJAX does not require XML, but the X in the word/acronym AJAX stands for XML because historically it is the way to communicate between server and client.

enguerran 2009-10-02 15:50:24

Answer 7

+12 A:

Pascal Thivent 2009-10-02 15:12:54

Answer 8

A:

If you're interested, IBM have a 10 (possibly more) part series on Ajax: Mastering Ajax part 1

Although a few years old now it's a good intro, (even if you just read the first part!)

I think the whole series should be listed Here, although the site's being a bit slow for me at the moment...

Summary:

Ajax, which consists of HTML, JavaScript™ technology, DHTML, and DOM, is an outstanding approach that helps you transform clunky Web interfaces into interactive Ajax applications. The author, an Ajax expert, demonstrates how these technologies work together -- from an overview to a detailed look -- to make extremely efficient Web development an easy reality. He also unveils the central concepts of Ajax, including the XMLHttpRequest object.

Zeus 2009-10-02 15:41:34

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How does AJAX work?

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