We have the very best book by Douglas Crockford, "JavaScript: The Good Parts". I can recommend it to anyone who wants to dig into real good parts of JavaScript.
The question is, what is the best book on designing web applications with Ajax? What would you recommend reading?
Is there "Ajax: The Good Parts", a K&R on designing modern web applications?
Professional Ajax, 2nd Edition (Programmer to Programmer)
Talks about Ajax techniques, patterns, and use cases
Published by Wrox Press
I have Head First Ajax, bought it two years ago to my office and it brings a lot of help to me and my coworkers.
This is about the ajax core and it basis...
It's content is in the link.
Ajax in Action by Crane, Pascarello and James
It has design patterns, pitfalls, security and framework examples.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_Patterns
Ajax is just a tool, buzzword, whatever. Decide what your application needs to do, pick the best javascript framework for the job (e.g., jQuery, Dojo, YUI,etc...), and build it.
(Not trying to be snarky. Just don't think there's anything special about Ajax that you need a specific book for if you already have a handle on Javascript. )
Not Specific to Ajax but Jquery in Action is a must read and has some great Ajax support!
I think that the best way to use ajax is to use jQuery's AJAX libraries. They provide for cross browser compatabilty and take care of common AJAX tasks like processing JSON and handling caching. Therefore the best AJAX book is probably the best jQuery book with a good AJAX section like Learning jQuery: Better Interaction Design and Web Development with Simple JavaScript Techniques or jQuery in Action
