Ajax

A practical tutorial to enhancing the user experience of your ASP.NET web applications with the final release of the Microsoft AJAX Library

• A rapid and practical guide to including AJAX features in your .NET applications
• Learn practical development strategies and techniques
  
• Go through a case study that demonstrates the theory you learned throughout the book.
  

In Detail

Microsoft AJAX Library Essentials is a practical reference for the client-side library of the ASP.NET AJAX Framework 1.0, and a tutorial for the underlying technologies and techniques required to use the library at its full potential. The main goal of this book is to get you comfortable with the Microsoft AJAX Library, a huge set of functions that can be used for developing powerful client-side functionality.

Beginning with a hands-on tour of the basic technologies associated with AJAX, JavaScript, XMLHttpRequest, JSON, and the DOM, you'll move on to a crash course in the Microsoft AJAX tools. You will learn, through numerous step-by-step exercises, how to create basic AJAX applications, how the object-based programming model of JavaScript works, and how Microsoft AJAX Library extends this model. You'll understand the architecture of the Microsoft AJAX components, how they all fit together, and exactly what they can do for you. Then you will learn how to use the Microsoft AJAX Library in your web projects, and a detailed case study will walk you through creating your own customized client components.

At every stage of your journey, you'll be able to try out examples to illuminate the theory, and consolidate your understanding. In addition to learning about the client and server controls, you'll also see how to handle errors and debug your AJAX applications.

To complement your new found skills, the book ends with a visual reference of the Microsoft AJAX Library namespaces and classes, including diagrams and quick explanations for all the classes mentioned in the book, providing an invaluable reference you will turn to again and again.

What you will learn from this book?

This book teaches you, through step-by-step exercises, the following essential topics:

• How to create basic AJAX applications using JavaScript, CSS, DOM, and the XMLHttpRequest object.
• Understand the object-oriented model of JavaScript.
• Learn what the Microsoft AJAX Library is made of.
• Understand how the Microsoft AJAX Library extends the object-oriented capabilities of JavaScript by adding support for namespaces, interfaces, events, properties, and an improved set of base classes.
• Implement JavaScript classes and interfaces based on Visual Studio class diagrams
• Create client components, controls and behaviors, by extending existing elements of the page, registering events, and utilizing the page life cycle.
• Go through a case study that demonstrates the theory you learned throughout the book.

Approach

This book is a practical tutorial to get you confident and comfortable working with the Microsoft AJAX suite. Packed with step-by-step examples and detailed explanations of how the examples work, this book is the ideal first step into the exciting world of AJAX in ASP.NET

Who this book is written for?

This book has been written for ASP.NET developers entering the world of the ASP.NET AJAX Framework, and for existing ASP.NET AJAX developers looking for a more detailed tutorial on the client-side of the framework: the Microsoft AJAX Library.

“I very much enjoyed how this book covers the full Ajax application lifecycle and not only coding techniques. Anyone who is looking to become a professional front-end developer will appreciate the architectural insight and best practices delivered by this book.”  — Andi Gutmans, Co-Founder & Co-Chief Technology Officer of Zend Technologies

Mission-Critical Ajax: Maximizing Scalability, Performance, Security, Reliability, and Maintainability

Advanced Ajax: Architecture and Best Practices is the definitive guide to building business-critical, production-quality Web applications with Ajax. Shawn M. Lauriat systematically addresses the design, architecture, and development issues associated with Ajax, offering proven patterns and robust code examples available in no other book. You’ll find best practices for addressing the full spectrum of issues enterprise Ajax developers face: scalability, performance, security, reliability, flexibility, maintainability, and reusability.

Writing for experienced Web developers, Lauriat delivers fresh ideas and elegant solutions: meaty technical content, presented with exceptional clarity. Among the many topics he covers in unprecedented depth: cleanly implementing JavaScript custom events to reduce coupling and to enhance flexibility; overcoming Ajax’s traditional accessibility limitations; reducing network latency through compression and other techniques; and much more. Coverage includes 

• Planning Ajax interfaces for simplicity, clarity, and intuitiveness
• Creating scalable, maintainable architectures for client-side JavaScript
• Using the latest tools to profile, validate, and debug client-side code
• Architecting the server side for security and functionality, while restricting loaded data, objects, and actions to current requests
• Protecting against the most widespread and significant Ajax security risks
• Optimizing every component of an Ajax application, from server-side scripts to database interactions
• Introducing cutting-edge Ajax: game development, Ajax with canvas, and Ajax for enterprise applications

About the Web Site

This book’s companion Web site (http://advancedajax.frozen-o.com) doesn’t just provide all the code: It shows code examples in action, as building blocks of a real Web application interface.

ZK is the most popular open source SourceForge Ajax web framework that enables rich user interface for web applications with no JavaScript and little programming. This firstPress book will cover the following:

• Shows you how to use this simplest Ajax framework to write real-world responsive web applications
• Covers ZKs more than 70 XUL and 80 XHTML rich GUI components
• Authoritatively written by cofounder/lead of the ZK project

What youll learn

• Perform Ajax development without the use of JavaScript.
• Write your first ZK framework&emdash;based application: “Hello World!”
• Augmenting with Eclipse IDE, build a more dynamic, responsive “Hello World!”application.
• Use ZKs more than 70 XUL and 80 XHTML rich GUI components.
• Explore megacomponents for Google Maps and more.
• Build a real-world application such as a pet store by using ZK in the presentation tier and beyond.
• Integrate and use ZK with other frameworks like Hibernate.

Who is this book for?

Web application designers and programmers who wish to implement rich Ajax web applications in the simplest way.

Val's Blog
"A tremendously useful field guide specifically written for developers down in the trenches...waiting for the killer solution..."

Book Description Web users are getting tired of the traditional web experience. They get frustrated losing their scroll position; they get annoyed waiting for refresh; they struggle to reorient themselves on every new page. And the list goes on. With asynchronous JavaScript and XML, known as "Ajax," you can give them a better experience. Once users have experienced an Ajax interface, they hate to go back. Ajax is new way of thinking that can result in a flowing and intuitive interaction with the user.

Ajax in Action helps you implement that thinking--it explains how to distribute the application between the client and the server (hint: use a "nested MVC" design) while retaining the integrity of the system. You will learn how to ensure your app is flexible and maintainable, and how good, structured design can help avoid problems like browser incompatibilities. Along the way it helps you unlearn many old coding habits. Above all, it opens your mind to the many advantages gained by placing much of the processing in the browser. If you are a web developer who has prior experience with web technologies, this book is for you.

What's Inside - Ajax principles
- Why Ajax design patterns matter
- How to avoid Ajax pitfalls
- Examples of Ajax in action: type-ahead suggest, live searching using XSL, and many more.
- Examples using Ajax frameworks: Prototype, Scriptaculous, x and Rico
- Ajax usability, security, and performance

"The core technologies of Ajax are quite straightforward; the hard part is applying them in the real world. Fortunately, the authors have been putting Ajax into practice since long before the term ‘Ajax’ was even coined. Enterprise AJAX offers excellent coverage of issues rarely explained to date, but frequently encountered by enterprise developers—including architecting of Ajax applications, and how to deal with such concerns as usability, security, and reliability."
-DR. MICHAEL MAHEMOFF, PH.D. author of Ajax Design Patterns (AjaxPatterns.org)

"Just when you thought you knew all you need to know about Ajax, Dave, Alexei, and Andre force open your cranium and unload a dumptruck full of Enterprise Ajax techniques, best practices, and hard-earned expert insight onto your brain. If you want to mix some serious Ajax into your serious business applications, the solid information and advice you get from this book will let you do so with confidence."
-BRENT ASHLEY, Web Developer and Ajax Pioneer

"I can’t think of any better authors for a book on Enterprise AJAX. The book is sure to be a valuable reference for developers the world over working on the next generation of web applications."
-MATT MCKENZIE, Software development manager, LiveCycle, Adobe Systems Inc.

"A great resource for writing quality, enterprise-level JavaScript."
-CHRISTIAN VAN EEDEN, Senior Application Specialist, Schenker DB Logistics

BUILD RELIABLE, SCALABLE, ENTERPRISE-CLASS WEB APPLICATIONS WITH AJAX
Writing for enterprise developers, architects, and user interface specialists, the authors explain why AJAX offers such great promise in large-scale development. Next, they systematically introduce today’s key AJAX techniques and components.

You'll walk through developing frameworks for building AJAX applications that combine data tables, Web forms, charts, search, and filtering: the very systems businesses depend on in CRM, ERP, BI, and beyond. Then, building on this strong foundation, the authors identify proven AJAX architectural patterns, and present case studies drawn from actual .NET and Java AJAX applications. Coverge includes

• Using AJAX to implement Model-View-Controller (MVC) in the browser
• Encapsulating user interface functionality to facilitate code reuse and reduce cross-browser development problems
• Overcoming the unique security challenges associated with AJAX Web applications
• Optimizing AJAX usability: the "back" button, caching, bookmarking, offline usage, and beyond

From security to scalability to project risk, this is the only book to cover all the issues facing AJAX developers in the enterprise. Whether you’re migrating legacy HTML interfaces or building new applications from scratch, you’ll find it absolutely indispensable.

ABOUT THE WEBSITE
www.enterpriseajax.com contains code samples, case studies, tutorials, live demos, and other AJAX resources.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
David Johnson has many years of experience with AJAX-related technologies. He is co-founder and CTO of Nitobi, producer of a component library designed to speed AJAX development. Johnson has written widely for print and online publications, including JavaWorld.com and XML.com.  Alexei White is Product Manager at Nitobi. Andre Charland, co-founder, President, and CEO of Nitobi, is an experienced Internet software developer.