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Ajax The Definitive Guide
Is Ajax a new technology, or the same old stuff web developers have been using for years? Both, actually. This book demonstrates not only how tried-and-true web standards make Ajax possible, but how these older technologies allow you to give sites a decidedly modern Web 2.0 feel.
Ajax: The Definitive Guide explains how to use standards like
JavaScript, XML, CSS, and XHTML, along with the XMLHttpRequest object, to build browser-based web applications that function like desktop programs. You get a complete background on what goes into today's web sites and applications, and learn to leverage these tools along with Ajax for advanced browser searching, web services, mashups, and more. You discover how to turn a web browser and web site into a true application, and why developing with Ajax is faster, easier and cheaper.
The book also explains:
* How to connect server-side backend components to user interfaces in the browser
* Loading and manipulating XML documents, and how to replace XML with JSON
* Manipulating the Document Object Model (DOM)
* Designing Ajax interfaces for usability, functionality, visualization, and accessibility
* Site navigation layout, including issues with Ajax and the browser's back button
* Adding life to tables & lists, navigation boxes and windows
* Animation creation, interactive forms, and data validation
* Search, web services and mash-ups
* Applying Ajax to business communications, and creating Internet games without plug-ins
* The advantages of modular coding, ways to optimize Ajax applications, and more
This book also provides references to XML and XSLT, popular JavaScript Frameworks, Libraries, and Toolkits, and various Web Service APIs. By offering web developers a much broader set of tools and options, Ajax gives developers a new way to create content on the Web, while throwing off the constraints of the past. Ajax: The Definitive Guide describes the contents of this unique toolbox in exhaustive detail, and explains how to get the most out of it.
CONTENTS:
Preface
Part I. Ajax Fundamentals
1. Reinventing the Web
Web Page Components
Modern Web Standards
Browsers
Standards Compliance
Welcome to Web 2.0
2. From Web Sites to Web Applications
The Transition
Basic Web and Ajax Design Patterns
Application Environments
The Developer
What Ajax Is Not
3. Servers, Databases, and the Web
The Web Server
Server-Side Scripting
Databases
Getting Data Into and Out of Relational Databases
Interfacing the Interface
Frameworks and Languages
What Good Are Frameworks?
4. Foundations: Scripting XML and JSON
XML
JSON
Choosing a Data Exchange Format
A Quick Introduction to Client Frameworks
Simplifying Development
5. Manipulating the DOM
Understanding the DOM
We've Already Met
Manipulating DOM Elements, Attributes, and Objects
Change That Style
Events in the DOM
DOM Stuff for Tables
Is innerHTML Evil?
6. Designing Ajax Interfaces
Usability
Functionality
Visualization
Accessibility
The Ajax Interface
Part II. Ajax Foundations
7. Laying Out Site Navigation
Menus
Tabs
Navigation Aids
Problems with Ajax Navigation
General Layout
8. Fun with Tables and Lists
Layout Without Tables
Accessible Tables
Sorting Tables
Tables with Style
Table Pagination
Lists 2.0
Lists for All Seasons
9. Page Layout with Frames That Aren't
Using Frames
XHTML and Frames
The Magic of Ajax and a DIV
Page Layout
10. Navigation Boxes and Windows
The Alert Box
Integrating the Window
Navigation Windows
Tool Tips
The Necessary Pop Up
11. Customizing the Client
Browser Customizations
Stylesheet Switching
Switching Different Customizations
Easy Font-Size Switching
Creating Color Themes
Throwing Ajax into the Mix
Changing Site Language with Ajax
Repositioning Objects and Keeping Those Positions
Storing It All in the Database
12. Errors: To Be (in Style) or Not to Be
Error Handling on the Web
Should I React to That Error?
Handling an Error with Care
Integrating the User Error
13. This Ain't Your Father's Animation
Animation on the Web
What Is Wrong with GIF?
Building Animation with the PNG Format
Ajax Animations
14. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Form
XHTML Forms
Using JavaScript
Fancier Forms
The Basics of Ajax and Forms
Accepting Ajax-Delivered Data
Server Responses
15. Data Validation: Client, Server, or Both
Data Validation Is Important
Validation with JavaScript
CSS Notification of Errors
Validation on the Server
Ajax Client/Server Validation
Part III. Ajax in Applications
16. Search: The New Frontier
Types of Site Searches
Dynamic Searching with Ajax
Googling a Site
17. Introducing Web Services
What Is a Web Service?
Web Service Architectures
Ajax and Web Services
Web Feeds
Web Service APIs
18. Web Services: The APIs
Publicly Available Web Services
Ajax and the API
The Next Step with Services
19. Mashups
Mashups in Web 2.0 Applications
What Are Mashups?
Mashups As Applications
Data Sources
Application Portlets
Building a Mashup
Mashups and Business
20. For Your Business Communication Needs
Businesses and Ajax
Real-Time Communication
File Sharing
Whiteboards
Combining Applications
21. Internet Games Without Plug-ins
Gaming on the Web
Internet Requirements
Animating a Character
Basic Collisions
User Input
The Basics of Event Handling
Putting It All Together
Part IV. Wrapping Up
22. Modular Coding
What Is Modular Coding?
The Client Side
The Server Side
23. Optimizing Ajax Applications
Site Optimization Factors
HTTP
Packets
Client-Side Optimizations
Server-Side Optimizations
Ajax Optimization
Part V. References
A. The XML and XSLT You Need to Know
B. JavaScript Framework, Toolkit, and Library References
C. Web Service API Catalog
D. Ajax Risk References
Index
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