Starting Small Business - AJAX - Combining Technologies To Increase Website Interactivity

And JavaScript to bind everything together; xMLHttpRequest for asynchronous data retrieval; xML and XSLT for data interchange and manipulation; document Object Model for dynamic display and interaction; these are XHTML and CSS for a standards-based presentation. AJAX incorporates several technologies to work.

AJAX allows for a more responsive web experience as it allows your web page to exchange small amounts of data with the server as you view the page. Loading of new small amounts of data does not interfere with normal page loading, since AJAX allows for asynchronous action.

Without having to reload the entire page; the web page changes accordingly. Your actions send a JavaScript request which trigger an action - usually a data retrieval request - which is answered by the web page in the form of a XML response, with AJAX.

The server processes the request and answers the request by loading an appropriate HTML page back to the user. User actions trigger an HTTP request back to the web server, in a classic web application model.

AJAX cuts down on waiting time and makes the web experience more dynamic. AJAX allows the page to process your request and make small changes accordingly without having to reload an entire page. You don't have to wait for your server to reload the page according to your requests, with AJAX.

Which triggers a response from the AJAX engine; every action you make generates a JavaScript request, the user can interact with the application asynchronously. The browser also loads an AJAX engine which renders the interface that the user sees and communicates with the server at the same time, when one loads a webpage that utilizes AJAX.

You are not left staring at a blank browser window while the server processes you request. The user's interaction with the web page does not stall, since AJAX is capable of asynchronous action.

This eliminates the need for page refreshing. This technology allows browsers to make data requests without having to reload the page. The asynchronous element of AJAX is provided by XMLHttpRequest.

With XMLHttpRequest a programmer can by-pass this requirement. A web page needs to be re-loaded every time you need to view different data sets, in the traditional format, this means that. The data they display are not bound to data sources and must first be set out in proper order in a HTML format before they can be presented in a browser window. Web pages are usually loosely coupled.

As such the bandwidth usage and requirements for a page utilizing AJAX are minimized. AJAX web pages load quickly since the payload coming down is smaller in size and the rest of the layout does not have to be redrawn when you request a page update.

Another benefit of AJAX is that the use of this platform means that programmers have to clearly separate the methods and formats used for the aspects of information delivery.

And functionality of the webpage; style elements of the webpage; format or structure of the webpage; programmers using AJAX can adopt or adapt whatever techniques work for them but the must adopt separation of raw data or content to be delivered.

Usually with reference to its interactions with some web applications, it is still evolving and as such is vulnerable to some glitches, as AJAX is a new application.

But not every web page has these yet, programmers have tried to use invisible IFRAMEs to invoke changes that populate the history used by a browser's back button. Triggering the back function might not bring back the desired result, as such. An AJAX created page does not register in a web browser's history.

Many browsers allow JavaScript to update the fragment identifier of a URL dynamically and as such the user changes made to a page using an AJAX application can be maintained. A solution to this would be the use of a URL fragment identifier, however. It is also difficult to bookmark a page using AJAX.

If the user is unaware of AJAX properties it may result in them assuming that there is something wrong with the page. Some factors can increase the network latency of a webpage and cause delays in the interface of the web application. Network latency is the interval between the user's request and the server's response. You have to take into consideration network latency, if you want to use an AJAX application in your website.

The use of visual clues or warnings to make the user aware of the background activity inherent to an AJAX application is recommended. This too can cause confusion for the viewer. There is a brief moment of re-adjustment when the content changes, when a web page is rendered or changed by a request, also.

If the browser being used by the user is incompatible to JavaScript portions of the website can be distorted or just rendered unreadable. JavaScript can be implemented differently by different browsers and as such there may be compatibility issues. JavaScript can cause its share of problems; while AJAX relies on JavaScript for it's dynamic interactions.

Linked URL that search engines can read, websites that use AJAX to load data must provide equivalent Sitemaps data at a public. Search engines as a rule do not execute the JavaScript code needed for AJAX functionality.

Are the ones most likely to be able to accommodate a site which heavily utilizes Ajax, such as the click of a button or link, analytics systems which allow for the tracking of events other than a simple page view. AJAX can also pose a problem with web analytic systems.