A simple feedback of AJAX for beginners

Website script holds large importance as far as popularity and usage convenience are concerned. As an innovative web language AJAX may not be very popular as it has come quite recently as compared with other web languages which have been around for last 10 years or more. For beginners a quick feedback of AJAX can be helpful.

AJAX is really faster in its application as it does not need connection to server every time you ask for the information. Call back process for required information from users is capable enough to avoid sluggishness of page view. Data updation has been made quite simple and there is no need to review the entire contents. The system can select the bits to update. AJAX uses those scripts which are normally supported by all major browsers.

If you are planning to develop a new website, you can try AJAX. Online tutorials are available to get basic start up guidelines also.

Ajax Alternatives?

Its difficult to claim perfection in anything, even Ajax. While Ajax has enhanced the web experience for many users, and there is not shortage of people constantly praising its merits, it is perhaps no longer the newest standard. Sure, it allows relatively easy integration of interactive elements in web pages, but is it really all that powerful and versatile as is often claimed?

There are three major standards for the development of Rich Internet Applications: Ajax, Java, and Flash. None of these are perfect solutions, but each has its own advantages over the others.

This is where the choice comes in. Ajax is at its strongest for such applications as information submission, but weaker when applied as a true asynchronus system.

On the other hand, Ajax is probably the most versatile of the options available. While not always the most efficient, it can get the job done. Many of its disadvantages can be blamed on web browsers not following standards and not being optimized for the desired degree of interactivity.

CrazzyEgg : Clicks Monitoring

Crazzyegg, is one of the most interesting Web 2.0 applications I have ever seen. To say, it is a simply a click stats monitoring service but an inteligent one. The good folks at crazzyegg let me have an account for their (Beta) service.
Unlike other stats monitoring service, Crazzyegg gives an clear idea of the most sensitive part of a monitored page per session. Each session can be of upto 1,00,000 clicks and 13 days. When we open a specific session the monitored page is shown with few crazzyegg tools and options.
I very much like the Heatmap view of a page, It is like looking at a geographical map of our webpage .

• The heatmap shows area of total clicks, the higher the click are is more red. Apart from the Heatmap view the dashboard has the overlay and list view.
• Over lay is shown shows coloured blocks, the colours of the boxes changes per increase in clicks. This is the dashboard view of the actual page, Sreejith.NET .
• In List view, a simple list of total clicks is shown.

Through our simple tool, content providers have access to user input, and can use this information to tweak aspects of a web page, test the results, and then tweak again based on the user information they continually receive from Crazy Egg.

Using this ongoing optimization process, combined with A/B testing of similar pages, the insight provided by the Crazy Egg tool is the key component to helping you improve how your site works for you and your visitors.

jsquery - AJAX JavaScript ResultSet with securable JDBC server side component

This is a very FAST AJAX implementation using server generated javascript and eval() as opposed to XML.

Site includes full source code distribution with working examples.

http://www.jsquery.com/

An implementation of an AJAX JavaScript data generation server, http client, and client result set

Uses a JavaScript http client to dynamically map the results of data requests from a Java application server to a web browser HTML form without requiring refresh or page submit (similar to Google Suggest). Server side data can be SQL via JDBC, an object relational mapping using a tool such as Hibernate, returned from a server connecting a group of peers or pipelined from another source like a SOAP server.

AJAX: Dawn of a new developer - Good introductory article on JavaWorld.com

Dave Johnson presents an excellently written introduction to Ajax over at JavaWorld.com. Besides calling Ajax the “crown jewel in the current Web evolution that has been dubbed Web 2.0″ (a position we would not necessarily disagree with…), Johnson presents a good case (especially directed towards Java developers) for the use of Ajax. He also gets into some good patterns to use and development tips. All in all, an excellent Ajax article, especially if you’re a Java developer.

Summary
The recently coined term AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript with XML) has given new life to Web development and spurred the advance of Web 2.0. This article looks at the current state of AJAX and how it is changing the Web developer’s job description. In particular, Dave Johnson identifies some of the more important AJAX technologies and tools and how these are introducing new usability and development issues for Web developers.

Read the entire article: AJAX: Dawn of a new developer

Particletree · The Hows and Whys of Degradable Ajax

It’s been a long time since I turned Javascript off. This is a good article about building gracefully degrading Ajax-enabled web applications. Basically, make sure you have at the core of your application a regular web-page, minus any scripting or onclick events. Then, build your Ajax features back in from there.

Particletree · The Hows and Whys of Degradable Ajax

How to Approach Degradable Ajax

The general strategy here is to start by creating a page that works like a normal site—processing information on page loads and refreshes. Then, if JavaScript is enabled, we have our scripts bypass this normal functionality and replace it with sweet Ajax functionality.

Now, creating a degradable Ajax site is a bit different from a creating a site with unlimited Ajax potential. Here are some strategies I’ve come up with to help you build a degradable Ajax page.

JavaScript: Start with JavaScript turned off. Doing this forces you to make sure you structure your page to work without JavaScript enabled. This does not mean that you can’t add slick Ajax animations in later, but it does keep you focused on the goal. It also means that we are temporarily removing “onclick” from our toolbox.

Markup: If you design a project with no JavaScript from the start (and therefore no “onclick”), you will realize the only elements that perform an action and are “clickable” places for user interaction are the <a> elements and the <input type="submit"/> elements. What you are sacrificing then, is the ability to make divs and other common elements clickable. I have, however, noticed that most of your general web 2.0 effects can be accomplished no problem with just these two elements. It’s sort of like in CSS when you have to make sure an element doesn’t have a fixed width AND left or right padding to insure it doesn’t create problems with browsers that don’t follow the box model properly. It’s not hard, just requires a little extra creative problem solving effort.

Noscript: And let’s not forget that when you’re creating an interface, there’s a W3C ordained element meant specifically for allowing users access to content that wouldn’t be available if a browser has scripting disabled.

Via del.icio.us

Back Button Expectation Gaps

I think it’s been pointed out so much that nobody can miss one of AJAX’s apparent faults - the back button and it’s unexpected results for the user. There is an expectation gap of sorts between AJAX, users and browsers.

What does this mean for a hypothetical one page Web Application? Pressing the back button, and seeing everything fall apart is not something a user expects. There’s a gap in expectations between browsers and AJAX. Browsers are designed around the concept of using hyperlinks to browse from page to page - a multipage environment. But AJAX flows against that concept, existing to update a user’s current page, not to refresh the entire page and add it to browser history. Does the browser care about this? Well, seeing the results of back button usage - it doesn’t appear to…

Add the related expectation gap between users and an Ajaxified web page and you see an obstacle taking shape. Users are not particularly familiar with AJAX, many will never have heard the term, nor witnessed it in action on a large scale. As far as they are concerned, that button in the corner of their browser labelled “Back” will reverse any action they make. But such an assumption can fail when pitted against an ajaxified webpage or web application.

Rands states a case for making the back button optional in his thought provoking The Web Application Leap, based on two ideas:

Stop thinking of a web application as a collection of pages.

The back button is not a bug in Ajax, it’s a flaw in the browser metaphor.

It’s difficult to see back buttons vanishing at any stage, and it is possible under many circumstances to work around the issues it raises. But the back button is not an “undo” button… Who do we look to for a resolution, browser developers or AJAX users?

DHTML Roundup by Lifehacker

Lifehacker rounds up some DHTML goodies:

• domCollapse - collapsible menus
• div hiding - with Javascript and CSS
• hover help - nice rollover text
• docking boxes - drag and drop snap-to-grid elements

More at Lifehacker.

Common REST Mistakes

Here’s a timely article on Common REST Mistakes.

Timely because of the problems resulting from and associated with Google’s new Web Accelerator program.

Ajaxian UI/Accessibility Issues

Ajaxian blog on UI/Accessibility issues and ajax:

We were just talking to a UI/information architect, who was complaining about handling users who have JavaScript turned off, and how Ajax has a barrier, in that he can’t get budget to “write the application twice”.

The problem with “working without JavaScript turned on” is interesting.

However, these days I think that this problem is basically gone. Gone are the days of people turning off JavaScript. Do you know of anyone who doesn’t have it turned on?

Some people definitely surf with JavaScript turned off, but I think these people are a small minority.

Most people just use the browser defaults, however unsafe that may be.

Interesting comment on there as well:

… fresh on the heels of Mozilla announcing that, due to security problems, people using Firefox should turn off javascript.

Is the almighty Firefox not even safe from JavaScript ’sploits?!?!

Next Page »