Chapter 1. Ajax Basics

Remember when users called the Internet the "world wide wait?" Way back in the Neolithic era of the Web? With some applications, that aspect of the Web hasn't really changed that much: fill out form, click button, web page goes away, wait, page refreshes, correct mistake, click, wait, wait... You've been stuck in this limbo before.

A number of recent web sites, however, such as many of the cool mapping applications that have evolved of late, require much greater responsiveness in the way they interact with users. The old, conventional way of handling user interaction is to have the entire page "go away" with every click, with the new page reappearing in the browser view only when the server's response is finally complete. However, some new applications require small pieces of the web page to change instantaneously, without the entire page reloading.

For example, if you have ever used Google Maps, the way you can drag outlying regions into your view conveys the impression that you have all of the maps stored locally on your computer, for your effortless manipulation. Imagine how unpopular this application would be if every time you tried to "drag" the map the page disappeared for a few (long) moments while the browser waited for another server response. The application would be so sluggish that no one would use it. So what's the magic that makes this work?