Ajax for Dummies

This book is for people who know OF Ajax, but want to know more ABOUT Ajax. It walks through the layering of the different technologies that make Ajax what is, and in a very organized, logical, and effective way. The style and humor of the series is present as always, and there are lots of great examples and exercises included. After completing the book and working on various projects, it becomes less useful and you'll probably want to switch to a more reference-oriented book. For beginners though, this book cannot be beat.

Ajax is obviously one of the hot web technologies these days, and now we have the Dummies title that covers it... Ajax for Dummies by Steve Holzner. While it might be easy to write this off as "just another Dummies book", I don't know that I'd be so hasty... Contents: Part 1 - Getting Started: Ajax 101; It's All About JavaScript Part 2 - Programming in Ajax: Getting to Know Ajax; Ajax in Depth Part 3 - Ajax Frameworks: Introducing Ajax Frameworks; More Powerful Ajax Frameworks; Server-Side Ajax Frameworks Part 4 - In-Depth Ajax Power: Handling XML in Ajax Applications; Working with Cascading Style Sheets in Ajax Applications; Working with Ajax and PHP Part 5 - The Part of Tens: Ten Ajax Design Issues You Should Know About; Ten Super-Useful Ajax Resources Index As I said, I wouldn't write this off as just another Dummies title. For one, Steve Holzner has an excellent track record of writing tech books that have become the go-to references in the industry. As per usual, he also does a great job on this book, albeit in the "Dummies" style of presentation and writing. There is an abundance of code and screen shots that make it easy to follow along, and he presents just enough background on JavaScript and other Ajax components to bring you up-to-speed if those are not your strong areas. The only "nit" I have is that some of the code and screen shots in Chapter 2 don't quite mesh. The code statements for what should be on the screen don't quite match what actually printed out. It's as if the screen shot was made with a slightly reworded JavaScript routine. It still is essentially the same, but it threw me slightly as I was going through the material. I felt the book really came to life in Part 3 with coverage of the different frameworks. I don't think any of the other books I've read on Ajax to date have had quite this much information on all the different frameworks you can implement to eliminate much of the "heavy lifting". Since Steve does a good job of presenting the pros and cons of each, you'll quickly determine if a framework is the way you want to go, and which options might be best for your particular project. While not the most technical book on the subject, Ajax for Dummies does bring some angles to the table that aren't present (or as strong) in other books. It'd be a good introduction to the subject matter, or a nice second volume to gain a different perspective on the technology.

I did not see much about Java server side code for Ajax, but lots of PHP. It mentions lots of different available Ajax frameworks. May help you to decide a framework to use.

This book is worth reading even if you have no interest in Ajax just to observe how a book of this nature should be written. Steve Holzner's communication and teaching skills are nothing less than awesome. If Ajax is of interest to you, this is the book to start no matter what level your interest or programming (or writing) proficiencies,- Holzer shows you the forest as well as the trees, - you'll get get your arms around Ajax, what it's all about, and where it can take you in an amazingly short time period and you'll be a dummy no more,- at least not where Ajax is concerned. If Ajax is of no interest to you, it will be when you finish reading this informative masterwork. Now more good news, after reading Holzner on Ajax, you'll be prepared for the very best book (technically) yet published on Ajax: David Crane's "Ajax in Action" - a Manning Publication. While Holzner takes you from ground level to 30 thousand feet with Ajax, "Ajax in Action", by David Crane, plummets you to explore many leagues beneath the surface, - after completion of these 2 books, you will join the ranks of the Ajax cognoscenti and dazzle your friends and foes alike with your newly acquired understanding of the foundation driving Web 2.0... Welcome to the future of the Internet!

Most web pages you see now have an active component, that is the web page consists of a base page with some data that comes out of a database. In most traditional web sites that are programmed with Cold Fusion, PHP, etc. each time you go to a new page the page, consisting of both static data and the data from the database are assembled by the server into an HTML page and sent to the browser. If the data being updated is small, say current temperature, stock price, page count or something like that, the amount of transmitted data is very high when compared with the amount of data that is actually changing. Ajax is a series of techniques that allow the client computer to keep the base page and only transmit the changing data. That is, the headline, most of the text, the pictures, everything that doesn't change is kept in place and only the temperature, price or page count is transmitted. This book gives an excellent tutorial on how to use the various components such as JavaScript, XML, CSS and others to create what might be called an Ajax page. It also gives a wide series of URLs to go to for the most current information and demonstrations.