Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and Ajax
December 15, 2007
Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and Ajax will take you from knowing absolutely nothing about JavaScript to being able to manipulate the DOM, build basic Ajax applications and more.
Most of us who have been building websites since the pre-Ajax days learned JavaScript through a mish-mash of one-off scripts, validations, etc. If a book like this had been around, it surely would’ve offered a nice clean overview of the techniques available to the JavaScript programmer.
Luckily for the novice JavaScript programmer (or intermediate developer wishing to hone his craft), Beginning Javascript with DOM Scripting and Ajax does exist now and is the perfect way to learn the fundamentals from the ground up. The 2nd part of the book also focuses on Ajax and some of the interesting hacks one can use in that realm.
The author, Christian Heilmann, has a geeky sense of humor that keeps the reading light — for eaxmple Et Tu, Cache? (pg. 309):
Safari is the main offender as it caches the response status and does not trigger the changes (remember that the status returns the HTTP code 200, 304 or 404) any longer.
Adding this snippet tells the browser to test whether the data has changed since a certain date, i.e.:
request.setRequestHeader( ‘If-Modified-Since’, ‘Thu, 06 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT’);
request.send( null );
A bit out of context here, but just one example of the kind of thing you’ll find in Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and Ajax.
Huge list of Ajax tutorials
October 2, 2006
Just found this list of 126 Ajax Tutorials over the weekend — here’s a sampling:
- Ajax Workshop 3: Shopping Cart using Script.aculo.us at AjaxLessons
- Building an AJAX-Based Chat: The Barebones Structure at DevArticles
- Dynamically loaded articles at DHTMLGoodies
- Slide Show with Controls at Zapatec
- Ajax for Java developers: Build dynamic Java applications at IBM
- Create Your Own Ajax Effects animated text; at ThinkVitamin
- Make all your tables sortable at Kryogenix
- Ajax Design Patterns at Snyke
- Ajax Poller at DHTMLGoodies
Really huge, excellent list. Check it out…
Ajax script resources
May 15, 2006
Working with Ajax? (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) Especially in web applications? Check out the web applications and scripts, coding secrets, and tips on the following web sites. As Ajax grows, so will these resources, so its highly recommended to bookmark them: (also great sites for HTML codes, CGI, Perl, Javascript, XML, and other coding scripts)
The Javascript Source: http://javascript.internet.com/ajax/
The Javascript Forum: http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=3
Ajaxed: http://www.ajaxed.com/
Open Cube: www.opencube.com
Javascript Kit: www.javascriptkit.com
and don’t forget my Yahoogroups web-design support group at www.yahoogroups.com/ “web-design”
Get Help With Ajax Freaks
May 10, 2006
While surfing the web I came across a great tutorial site for users of Ajax. Ajax Freaks is an informational website and you can use it while you are learning or if your still in the development stage.
They have over 200 articles, and they also have forums, downloads, scripts and tutorials. If you are completely unsure what Ajax is, try starting here and reading a few articles tutorials.
Professional Ajax : Review
March 4, 2006
Ajax, as you all know is something that is used in most of the new and exciting application released on the web nowdays, Web 2.0 to be precise. Professional Ajax, lights up most the area needed for a web developer to get started with AJAX. The book does a good job academically of showing how Ajax has evolved and how it is used in Web 2.0 applications. The book effectively cites examples in PHP, .NET, and JavaServer Pages. Practically, the authors exhibit a proper mix of (X)HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Dynamic HTML and XmlHttpRequests, showing how the technologies are blended for developing next-gen UIs. The first few chapters have enough information to get a novice started with AJAX.
Title : Professional Ajax
Authors : Nicholas C. Zakas, Jermy McPeak, Joe Fawcett.
Paperback : 432 pages
Publisher : Wrox
ISBN : 0471777781
How to Create an Animated Live Search
February 21, 2006
“How to create an animated Live Search“, A interesting tutorial written by Steve Smith. A great result with small changes in any Wordpress template. The script is made using script.aculo.us to create a nice effect on displaying search result.
I’ve been meaning for some time to give a little tutorial on the live search I created for this latest design. There are a few steps involved, and I’ll do my best to explain each as we go. I should also note that I’m not including all the effects that you’ll find in my search. They require some special WordPress template changes that you shouln’t have to make. And I need to keep mine unique, right? Also, I’ll be touching on a few steps that are WordPress specific, but the theory can be applied to any site platform.
Thanks to Mike M 
Ajax without the X? - Good article about combining a generic Javascript new script engine with some PHP to deliver simple AJAX interactions
November 22, 2005
If you’ve wrestled with the whole XMLHttpRequest part of AJAX you should read this article. It clearly explains the technique of appending a new Javascript SCRIPT tag into the body and using the results to display new or updated content.
But there is one problem with most of the current implementations of Ajax: it has one dependency, and that is the XmlHttpRequest object. Most modern browser, like Firefox, have inbuilt support for this object, but older browsers, like Internet Explorer 6, don’t have native support for this object. Luckily, IE 6 does support it, but it’s built in as an ActiveX control, which means your visitors get an ugly warning message about the possible danger of an ActiveX control, or in some cases it just doesn’t work at all.
In this tutorial, I will show you how to use Ajax without even having to use the XmlHttpRequest object.
Read the article: PHPit - Totally PHP - Ajax & PHP without using the XmlHttpRequest Object
Via digg where there’s some good discussion going on about this technique.
ONJava.com: AJAX: How to Handle Bookmarks and Back Buttons
November 19, 2005
I can’t wait to try this library out to see if it really does work to enable back and forward button support. Don’t be afraid to read all 6 pages of this excellent article and then download the example code and libraries.
This article presents an open source JavaScript library that finally brings bookmarking and back button support to AJAX applications. By the end of this tutorial, developers will have a solution to an AJAX problem that not even Google Maps or Gmail possesses: robust, usable bookmarking and back and forward behavior that works exactly like the rest of the Web.
“AJAX: How to Handle Bookmarks and Back Buttons” explains the significant issues that AJAX applications currently face with bookmarks and the back button; presents the Really Simple History library, an open source framework that solves these problems; and provides several working examples.
The principal discoveries of the framework presented in this article are twofold. First, a hidden HTML form is used to allow for a large transient session cache of client-side information; this cache is robust against navigation to and away from the page. Second, a combination of hyperlink anchors and hidden iframes is used to intercept and record browser history events, tying into the back and forward buttons. Both techniques are wrapped with a simple JavaScript library to ease development.
Read article: ONJava.com: AJAX: How to Handle Bookmarks and Back Buttons
Simple and clear example of how to create a MySQL connection with PHP/AJAX
November 18, 2005
This is a good and simple example of doing one very clear action — sending a command to open a MySQL database connection through the AJAX transport layer. It includes downloadable code examples as well to get you started.
Filed under, “Roll-your-own-Ajax” department.
In this tutorial I will explain how to open a mysql database connection using PHP and the all popular AJAX. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the XMLHttpRequest object works within php and the advantages of using it.
Read the full article: Creating a MySQL connection with PHP/AJAX at John Wiseman
AJAX Whitepaper - Issues when working with AJAX (Mercurytide)
November 17, 2005
This is a good and fairly thorough introduction to the world of AJAX programming, cleanly and simply laid out with clear examples of each piece of an AJAX transaction. Worth a read both for new and experienced coders who need to refresh their understanding of this whole squiggley octopus mess that we call AJAX.
This paper has covered the most commonly-encountered problems when first starting AJAX-based programming. It has shown how to write cross-browser code to instantiate an XMLHttpRequest object, how to build an AJAX request, and how to use the server response. It has also mentioned further work necessary to encompass more advanced techniques.
