Professional Ajax 2nd Edition provides a developer-level tutorial of Ajax techniques, patterns, and use cases. The book begins by exploring the roots of Ajax, covering how the evolution of the web and new technologies directly led to the development of Ajax techniques. A detailed discussion of how frames, JavaScript, cookies, XML, and XMLHttp requests (XHR) related to Ajax is included. After this introduction, the book moves on to cover the implementation of specific Ajax techniques. Request brokers such as hidden frames, dynamic iframes, and XHR are compared and contrasted, explaining when one method should be used over another. To make this discussion clearer, a brief overview of HTTP requests and responses is included.

Once a basic understanding of the various request types is discussed, the book moves on to provide in-depth examples of how and when to use Ajax in a web site or web application. Different data transmission formats, including plain text, HTML, XML, and JSON are discussed for their advantages and disadvantages. Also included is a discussion on web services and how they may be used to perform Ajax techniques. Next, more complex topics are covered. A chapter introducing a request management framework explores how to manage all of the requests inside of an Ajax application. Ajax debugging techniques are also discussed.

The last part of the book walks through the creation of two full-fledged Ajax web applications. The first, FooReader.NET, is an Ajax-powered RSS reader. The second, called AjaxMail, is an Ajax-enabled email system. Both of these applications incorporate many of the techniques discussed throughout the book.

Professional Ajax 2nd edition is written for Web application developers looking to enhance the usability of their web sites and web applications and intermediate JavaScript developers looking to further understand the language. Readers should have familiarity with XML, XSLT, Web Services, PHP or C#, HTML, CSS. This book is not aimed at beginners without a basic understanding of the aforementioned technologies. Also, a good understanding of JavaScript is vitally important to understanding this book. Those readers without such knowledge should instead refer to books such as Beginning JavaScript, Second Edition (Wrox, 2004, ISBN: 978-0-7645-5587-9) and Professional JavaScript for Web Developers (Wrox, 2005, ISBN: 978-0-7645-7908-0).

Professional Ajax 2nd edition adds nearly 200 pages of new and expanded coverage compared to the first edition. Some of the new topics covered here include:

• Ajax Libraries including the Yahoo! Connection Manager, Prototype, and jQuery
• Request Management with Priority Queues and the RequestManager Object
• Comet push-based web systems and HTTP streaming
• Maps and Mashups with Geocoding, Google Maps API and Yahoo! Maps API
• Ajax Debugging with FireBug and Microsoft Fiddler

  ASP.NET AJAX Extensions (formerly code-named "Atlas")

And of course the Second Edition retains and updates the core first edition content including:

• the range of request brokers (including the hidden frame technique, iframes, and XMLHttp) and explains when one should be used over another
• different Ajax techniques and patterns for executing client-server communication
• Ajax patterns including predictive fetch, page preloading, submission throttling, incremental field and form validation, periodic refresh, multi-stage download and more
• Syndication with RSS, Atom, and XParser
• JSON and creating an autosuggest textbox example
• web site widgets for a news ticker, weather information, web search, and site search
• Ajax Frameworks JSpan, DWR, and Ajax.NET Professional
• A Web-based RSS/Atom aggregator case study
• An AjaxMail case study

• Building on the strength of the popular first edition, this book helps experienced Web developers who are already familiar with Ajax foundations-JavaScript, CSS, and XML-to create more sophisticated and responsive Ajax user interfaces
• New topics include ready-to-use Ajax libraries, Ajax mapping, debugging, Microsoft Atlas, dynamic script loading, working with RSS and Web search feeds, and much more
• Discusses range of request brokers (including the hidden frame technique, iframes, and XMLHTTP) and explains when one should be used over another
• Reviews the different Ajax techniques and patterns for executing client-server communication on a Web site and in Web applications

* Building on the strength of the popular first edition, this book helps experienced Web developers who are already familiar with Ajax foundations-JavaScript, CSS, and XML-to create more sophisticated and responsive Ajax user interfaces
* New topics include ready-to-use Ajax libraries, Ajax mapping, debugging, Microsoft Atlas, dynamic script loading, working with RSS and Web search feeds, and much more
* Discusses range of request brokers (including the hidden frame technique, iframes, and XMLHTTP) and explains when one should be used over another
* Reviews the different Ajax techniques and patterns for executing client-server communication on a Web site and in Web applications

• Building on the strength of the popular first edition, this book helps experienced Web developers who are already familiar with Ajax foundations-JavaScript, CSS, and XML-to create more sophisticated and responsive Ajax user interfaces
• New topics include ready-to-use Ajax libraries, Ajax mapping, debugging, Microsoft Atlas, dynamic script loading, working with RSS and Web search feeds, and much more
• Discusses range of request brokers (including the hidden frame technique, iframes, and XMLHTTP) and explains when one should be used over another
• Reviews the different Ajax techniques and patterns for executing client-server communication on a Web site and in Web applications

• Building on the strength of the popular first edition, this book helps experienced Web developers who are already familiar with Ajax foundations-JavaScript, CSS, and XML-to create more sophisticated and responsive Ajax user interfaces
• New topics include ready-to-use Ajax libraries, Ajax mapping, debugging, Microsoft Atlas, dynamic script loading, working with RSS and Web search feeds, and much more
• Discusses range of request brokers (including the hidden frame technique, iframes, and XMLHTTP) and explains when one should be used over another
• Reviews the different Ajax techniques and patterns for executing client-server communication on a Web site and in Web applications

Combining tried-and-true CSS, XML, and JavaScript technologies, Ajax provides web developers with the ability to create more sophisticated and responsive user interfaces and break free from the "click-and-wait" standard that has dominated the web since its introduction.

This book discusses the range of request brokers (including the hidden frame technique, iframes, and XMLHttp) and explains when one should be used over another. You will also learn different Ajax techniques and patterns for executing client-server communication on your web site and in web applications. Each chapter builds on information in the previous chapters so that by the end of the book, you will have gained the practical knowledge necessary to implement your own Ajax solutions.

Some of the strong coverage carrying over from the first edition includes:

• Different methods for achieving Ajax communication and when to use each
• A variety of Ajax design patterns to use in specific data retrieval circumstances
• Techniques for using Ajax with RSS and Atom to produce a web-based news aggregator
• How to use JavaScript Object Notation as an alternate data transmission format for Ajax communications
• How to create Ajax widgets, such as a weather display and news ticker, that can be included in your web site

With almost 50% more coverage than the first edition, this new edition also includes:

• Dynamic Script Loading
• Using Images
• Ajax libraries including Yahoo! Connection Manager and Prototype
• Working with RSS and Web search feeds
• Persistent HTTP Connections and Client-Side Sockets
• Ajax Mapping APIs from Google, Yahoo!, and MSN
• Ajax Debugging
• Microsoft "Atlas"
• An expanded Ajax web-based email reader case study
• Integrated best-practices coverage

Another good AJAX book for your bookshelf
This book was very helpful to me when I was creating an executive-level presentation on AJAX because of the AJAX architecture diagram in chapter 1. More importantly, this book helped me research how to parse an RSS news feed with Atom.

But this book has much more than introductory material - it has valuable information on AJAX Principles, Who’s Using AJAX, AJAX Patterns, AJAX Libraries (such as Prototype and jQuery), XML, JSON, RSS with AJAX, and AJAX Debugging Tools.

In addition, this book covers something near-and-dear to me: real-world case studies at the end of the book.

The authors’ back-end-agnostic approach was very helpful because of the many platforms (JavaEE, .NET, Ruby, PHP, and so on) that people are using.

Do not waste your time
This is a great book but entirely irrelevant in todays world. The libraries and methods outlined here are outdated. With modern javascript frameworks like jQuery and Prototype there is, in my humble opinion, certainly no need to delve into the techniques of this book.

Nice intro to AJAX
A concise and informative introduction to AJAX technologies. A lot of great examples, including famous ones like Google maps and Gmail make learning about AJAX relevant and fun. A short history of AJAX and how it evolved into what it is today was also nice. I was hoping for more of a reference guide, but other than that, no real complaints here.

Not Happy
Wed 10/03/2007 5:15 pm. I’m not sure who writes these positive reviews, but an early example in the book ("The Hidden Frame Technique", starting on page 21) is obviously broken. The book shows "HiddenFrameExample1.htm" in an illustration but there is no such file in the ProAjax2ePHP.zip file downloaded from wrox. Judging by quotes on the internet probably from the first edition, I’d guess the actual file is probably GetCustomerData.php (?) but whether it is or not, that file has an obvious syntax error, missing paren in line 12 "if (is_numeric($sID) {". Of course if I were a php/ajax expert all this would be blindingly obvious; but I’m not, that’s why I bought the book. I can’t say I’m optimistic about the remainder of the text.

Very well written. Excellent resource.
I’m a senior ASP.NET/Web developer with no Ajax experience. This is my first Ajax book. I wanted to learn Ajax from the ground up, not just the Microsoft controls. Our ecommerce site is very highly trafficed and there’s no forgiveness for inefficiencies. This book certainly fulfilled my expectations, but it also introduced me to some new worlds of concepts that I did not expect. For instance, the chapter on Ajax Patterns: It’s a new way of thinking about Web Development. I’m very impressed with its content. The book is clearly written, the examples are excellent. I am learning a great deal from this book. Nice job guys!

powerful handbook
I really like this powerful handbook whick gives me detail tutorials in the field of AJAX practice.

Usefulness
It is good if the book is in asp and with a complete project source code that covers all chapter to make easy understanding for some chapters.

excellent in several respects
Last year (2006), I plowed through practically every available book on Ajax. This one really stands out for its excellent historical overview of how Ajax grew to exist. It also is one of the few that covers the use of hidden frames and Iframes as an Ajax technique (it has been around longer but is still used widely). The writing is outstanding. If you can only buy one Ajax book, this one should be it.

A free copy of chapter 1, "What is Ajax?" is available online at [...]

Surprisingly easy to read for a programming book
The information you need to get started on ajax programming happens very quickly in this book. The way it is presented also helps a great deal. While it still has it’s dry parts, this book was actually surprisingly easy to read(meaning I wasn’t falling asleep after 5 minutes of reading)

Brief review
I haven’t got a chance to go through all details yet, but looks pretty good so far.

Best code explanations ever
As a newcomer to Ajax, I cant comment on the coverage but it seemed reasonably comprehensive.

But the code walkthroughs were terrific - completely readable, easy to follow and sometimes even quite fun to read. I cant remember reading better code runthroughs ever.

Very well done
This book is very well done. It is a good introduction to AJAX and gets you up to speed quick.

CONS:
1. Not enough treatment on the server side of things in the beginning chapters. Needed a little more on serializing XML, but then how do you do that in a platform-agnostic way. I was a little disappointed that there were little or no examples in java/jsp/servlet during the Basics, Patterns and XML chapters. Could have used that. Assumes knowledge of PHP.

2. Need a little more treatment of XML/XPath/XSLT. Gets a little bit confusing when the technologies are all combined.

3. I feel like the patterns chapter could have followed the XML/XPath/XSLT chapter.

4. Maybe JSON could be left for the back of the book since the X in AJAX stands for XML. Just a thought.

5. About 65 pages of the book are just on AjaxMail, which has numerous examples, but was a lot of reading to go through on one application.

PROS:

1. Not a beginner’s book. Assumes knowledge of many things, like PHP, network protocols, HTTP, etc. I’m glad a lot of those details were left out and AJAX was focused on.

2. Gets you up and running with good, working examples.

3. The patterns chapter is very helpful in deciding how to use the stuff.

4. Good chapter on widgets.

5. Bang for the buck when talking about the AJAX frameworks that are out there. Fairly good treatment of JPSpan, DWR and AJAX.NET.

Ajax made fun
I found this book to be extremely informative. It is written in a clear, engaging style that makes it a pleasure to read. The examples are well constructed, relevant to real world applications, and thoroughly explained. The essential bits of code are highlighted for quick reading. The most irritating thing about web development is cross-browser support, and authors do a great job to making this less intimidating and point readers to libraries to abstract away the differences. Also covered are related JavaScript XML, XPath, XSLT support, web services, RSS/Atom.

PHP is the primary server side language used, though they chose .NET/C# for creating a web service. Microsoft’s .NET web service tools are excellent, but I would have liked it if the authors had rounded this out with giving the basics of creating a web service using open source solutions.

If you want to learn Ajax techniques and related technologies, this book is well worth your time and money.

Only AJAX book you should buy!
AJAX is the we technology everybody is talking abot now and its something that you should know if you are a web developer/designer now or want to be.

This book starts with a great chapter explaing how AJAX started and what it really is and how it works. Explaining how AJAX really works can be dificult for the beginner and the authors do it wonderfully. The next chapter goes into the basics of AJAX and how to create a very simple example(s) to give the user a solid foundation of how this new technology works (old technology but new way of using it actally).

The next chapter goes into Patterns which describes the programming techniques used by AJAX applications. This is a crucial chapter because it is this technique that allows developers to reall understand how to develop dynamic applications with AJAX. Lots of keywords are thrown around (throttling, periodic refreshing, multi-stage downloads, pending requests, etc) and each are excplained in detailed in a very concise manner that does not confuse the reader.

The next chapter focuses on the data format that is used to transfer this data (XML, XPath, XSLT) between each other using AJAX. Various techniques with the different browsers are discussed as well as workarounds if needed for the browser differences.

The rest of the book covers web services, JSON, widgets, andhte different frameworks that are available to use.

A very complete AJAX book that will get any reader ready to se AJAX in their web development work. A must by...

Best Ajax Book Yet
Last month, I was contacted by Wrox Press asking me to review of this book, Professional Ajax. I of course jumped at the opportunity, and have found this to be a very well rounded guide to Ajax technologies. It serves not only a comprehensive overview of all the various methods for handing complex asynchronous information exchange, but is also a handy reference guide for creating highly sought after effects for integration in your own site projects.

In case you didn’t already know, Ajax itself was a term coined by Jesse James Garrett in an article he wrote for Adaptive Path in February of 2005. It simply stands for Asynchronous JavaScript And XML. A little over a year later, and the entire web is abuzz with the new terminology. I was even able to attend a panel at SXSW on Ajax, led by Jesse himself. People just can’t seem to get enough!

Aside from JavaScript, it is important to realize that this mantra is less about a specific language and more about a method of user experience enhancement. The authors of this book, Nicholas C. Zakas, Jeremy McPeak and Joe Fawcett do a good job of staying platform neutral and language agnostic. They cover a myriad of examples with PHP, Java and the Microsoft .NET platform.

They start out with a brief history, and show how the logic behind Ajax has evolved from framesets to iframes, and now the popular XMLHttpRequest. Since this is not an official W3C standard, a small bit of code forking is necessary. Most modern browsers handle it the same way, but Internet Explorer still treats it as an ActiveXObject. However, this change is slated with the release of IE7.

Since I’m already pretty familiar with the theories behind Ajax, the chapters that stood out to me the most were 6, 7 and 8. Chapter six was devoted to web services, covering SOAP, WSDL and REST. It also shows how to make a rudimentary browser calculator, and a spell checker using the Google API.

Chapter seven focused pretty exclusively on JSON, a lightweight alternative to using XML for asynchrounous data transmission. XML is argued to be more human readable, but since this information is created to be parsed and not read, the proponents of JSON prefer the lighter file size and ease of use.

The drawbacks of using JSON over XML are that there is not native support for it in any languages other than JavaScript, as it’s a code variant and not a markup language. So, some content transformation is involved in making use of it. An additional benefit of XML is that Flash can parse it natively more easily, as of version 8. It’s really just based on preference.

Using JSON, they teach how to recreate Google’s popular auto-suggest feature, which completes possible search terms as you type. Chapter eight is where things really start to get fun though, because they teach you how to make even more web-based widgets. These include an animated news ticker, a weather checker, and a localized website search engine using a few external API’s.

The whole of chapter nine is devoted to constructing a web-based POP3 email application that mimicks the functionality of Gmail, including the courtesy of keeping the browser’s Back and Forward buttons working normally. Chapter ten finishes off the book nicely by covering some popular Ajax frameworks, such as JPSpan for PHP, DWR for Java SDK and Ajax.NET for the .NET platform. Bascially, if you want to really delve into Ajax concepts, this book is ideal.