ISBN:0976694085Book Description
It's not just another book on Ajax. It's Pragmatic Ajax: a concise, complete look at a new way of envisioning and implementing browser-based applications.
Ajax turns static web pages into interactive applications. Now you can deploy rich-client applications to clients without sacrificing the easy deployment of web applications. But to many folks, Ajax seems difficult. That's why we produced this book. As a Pragmatic guide, it strips away the mystery and shows you the easy way to make Ajax work for you.
We cover the the basics of DHTML, JavaScript, and the infamous XmlHttpRequest call. You'll see how to add Ajax to existing programs, and design new applications to exploit the power of Web 2.0. Learn the three layers of Ajax framework, and when (and how) to use each. See how to create rich clients, use visual effects, add client-side validation, and handle forms. Write applications that degrade gracefully if clients don't support JavaScript. And see how to integrate your Ajaxified clients into Java, .NET, and Ruby on Rails server frameworks.
With Pragmatic Ajax, you'll:
- Understand the breadth of the Ajax/Web 2.0 landscape, and go-indepth on how Ajax works
- Learn how JavaScript works with your server-side framework
- See how to easily apply Ajax techniques to an existing application--and when not to
- Know what's coming by looking at new features and frameworks currently in active development.
Writing dynamic applications isn't that hard. Folks are awed by Google Maps, but it isn't rocket science (apart from the satellite pictures). As a special bonus, see how to implement your own Google Maps-like application using DHTML.
/p>Reviews From AMAZON.COM
Solid explanation of the concepts
Pragmatic Ajax is organized into three acts, as identified by the authors. The first act, starting with Chapter 1, covers the history of AJAX as a technology and as architecture. Then, in Chapter 2, the book takes a deep-dive into code and dissects the killer-app that set the original standard for an AJAX website, Google Maps. The authors demonstrate the key components that make Google Maps successful and then give you the code for you to implement your own version of "Ajaxian Maps." Experienced developers will appreciate the quick exposure to the code, while those with less experience (such as myself), can still follow along and glean the concepts.
The heart of the book happens in the second act, chapters 3 through 15, when the authors explain the fundamentals behind how AJAX works and how you, the reader, can begin to use AJAX immediately on your site. The act moves up a level of abstraction in chapter 5, and explains how frameworks, toolkits, and libraries can do much of the heavy-lifting for you. Act 2 also covers AJAX UI creation and best practices, how to debug an AJAX application with DOM and JavaScript tools, and how to make sure your new web 2.0 website can fail safely to web 1.0. Finally, the authors wrap up by dissecting AJAX frameworks and porting their example application to each framework. The technology frameworks covered include PHP, Ruby on Rails, Java, and ASP.NET.
As with most plays, the final act is the shortest and the liveliest. Chapter 16 is the authors stab at showing more advanced techniques with data and UI manipulation and set to the tone for things to come in the future. The key idea being that AJAX will become widely adopted and disappear entirely behind-the-scenes, in which the developers perform these things seamlessly.
Although I understood that this act served as a broad guide to using AJAX, I still felt compelled to dig deeper as I worked on some of the examples. However, the technology itself is still in its growing stages and the best resource for learning more continues to be the web. I really liked how the book stuck with its purpose as being an easy-to-read guide to understanding AJAX, and I felt that it has armed with those concepts I can use to work on my future web projects. I also liked how it took some time to explain good practices using DOM and Javascript, especially for AJAX use. I feel that this book is best suited for experienced web developers as the book assumes a base level of knowledge.
Great title... heavy on practicality...
The Pragmatic Programmers publishing group does a great job coming up with books that cut right to the real-world aspects of technology. Pragmatic Ajax: A Web 2.0 Primer by Justin Gehtland, Ben Galbraith, and Dion Almaer is another title that follows in that tradition...
Contents: Building Rich Internet Applications with Ajax; Creating Google Maps; Ajax in Action; Ajax Explained; Ajax Frameworks; Ajax UI - Part 1; Ajax UI - Part 2; Debugging Ajax Applications; Degradable Ajax; JSON and JSON-RPC; Server-side Framework Integration; Ajax with PHP; Ajax with Rails; Proxy-Based Ajax with DWR; ASP.NET and Atlas; Ajax in the Future and Beyond; Index
Rather than start you out with a simple Hello World example of an Ajax application, they dive right into a application they call Ajaxian Maps (a play on Google Maps). While you don't get all the hand-holding instruction of what each Ajax component is along the way, you quickly get a sense of what power can be unleashed with these techniques. Once you've seen it all in action (complete with code), then you start to get the nitty-gritty of what and how it all works. That's more the tutorial section you're used to seeing in other books on the subject. I really appreciate how they then go to the different Ajax frameworks that are out there, and that you can use to hide some of the plumbing that is part and parcel of every Ajax application. While a number are mentioned, they spend most of their time on Dojo and Prototype. And I also appreciated the chapter on debugging your Ajax application. Web apps can be a bit tricky to debug, but the information in here gives you a solid foundation to move forward in that area.
Overall, one of the best "practical" books on Ajax that I've had the pleasure to review. Everything is rooted in and tied back to real examples in use today, so it's not one of these "I took the tutorial, now what can I use it for?" books... Very much recommended...