AJAX
My friend Dejan said to me the other day: “Great, now I have one more abbreviation to add to my resumé”. What he was talking about? AJAX
(Asynchronous JavaScript + XML), which basically means loading data in
the background and then show/update it on-the-fly using scripting. This
is something that I (and many others) have personally done for years,
but now it’s got a brand new name to describe it and a hype to go with
it.
Since it consists of already existing teqhniques, it’s just
a matter of branding. I think it’s good that it gets hyped and has
gotten a new name to market. Used the correct way and during suitable
circumstances, it can certainly enhance the user experience.
Some high-attention web sites have been built like this (although not all of these use the XML part). I also read a very-well written article about AJAX on Quirksmode, and he brings the attention to a very important part of this: accessibility.
I
do think it is an interesting way of doing it, and I hope the hype
makes it easier to persuade/convince project managers to allow its
usage in appropriate web sites.
What do you think?
PS. Have a nice weekend, I’ll write more on Monday. DS.
