Ajax: The Definitive Guide: Interactive Applications for the Web - Anthony T. Holdener

SGD $20

1st Edition

Consigned item sold "As Is/ Where Is" with no guarantees, warranties, refunds or exchanges. 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. About the Author Anthony T. Holdener III currently builds GIS web applications utilizing Esri ArcGIS JavaScript API, Google Maps JavaScript API, and/or Bing Maps API. He has worked with the web in one form or another since 1997 when he helped open an Internet cafe in Fairview Heights, Illinois. A graduate of St. Louis University with a degree in Computer Science, Anthony has worked as a web architect, developer, manager, or adjunct teacher for almost fifteen years in the St. Louis area. He is also the author of “Ajax: The Definitive Guide” (O’Reilly). He resides in the village of Shiloh, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife and twins. Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 starsA good introduction to Ajax By calvinnme HALL OF FAME on September 21, 2008 Format: Paperback This book is for people who already know HTML very well and are familiar - but not necessarily experts - with CSS and Javascript. If you are not in that category you should probably check out "Head First HTML and CSS" first. This is not a reference book, but a book for understanding and, more importantly remembering Ajax via an unusual presentation style. That unusual presentation style includes fake interviews, lots of illustrations, and question and answer sessions. You are also presented several designs and shown the right and wrong ways to approach problems. Ajax requires a non-traditional approach to web application design, and head first books are always good at adjusting your thought process as painlessly as possible. The topics covered include designing Ajax applications, Javascript events, multiple event handlers, asynchronous applications, the document object model and its manipulation, frameworks and toolkits, XML requests and responses, Javascript Standard Object Notation, forms and validations, post requests, leftovers, and utility functions. I liked this book not only for its casual and fun presentation style, but because it starts explaining Ajax at the beginning and does not get confusing as you go forward. The author knows how to ramp up the difficulty level without you really noticing. Plus, you don't feel like you need half a dozen other books to understand what's going on. The author is clear in her explanation of what the book's limitations are. 4.0 out of 5 starsLoads of Code; Good Value By Brett Merkey on February 27, 2008 Format: Paperback § There is a LOT of code in this 950 page book. I guess there is something here for everyone because there is code not directly related to Ajax but is directed to HTML structure or CSS presentational aspects or to frameworks that may include Ajax conveniences. In fact, the amount of code may interfere with the author's object of appealing to two very different types of people with this book: Web developers and project managers looking for a high-level view. Except for some intro chapters and the odd breather between 10-15 page code listings, I don't think any project managers *I* have worked with would extract much from the book. The book has 4 sections: Part 1 - Ajax Fundamentals: the basic technologies that could form the core of a typical Ajax application. Part 2 - Ajax Foundations: approaches to standards-compliant structure, separation of the presentational layer and client-side behaviors. Code code code! Part 3 - Ajax in Applications: describes the specific implementations of these technologies into Web applications. More code! Part 4 - Wrapping Up: tips on optimization. In addition, there are some reference appendices on XML and XSLT; on JavaScript frameworks; on Ajax implementation risks; and most interestingly, a catalog of freely available Web service APIs. One thing I did not like about the code listings was the use of Prototype style $() function syntax. This means when I see something like: var titleText = $('title').firstChild; I had to check whether .firstChild was a reference to a Prototype object or a reference to the standard DOM object. If the standard object, it would have been a whole lot clear just to have written document.getElementById(). The book index is actually pretty good. With 950 pages stuffed with content, you will probably be thankful for that! 5.0 out of 5 starsconsistently illuminates basic AJAX concepts with clear and fun explanations BySusanne Con April 30, 2013 Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase Head First Ajax by Rebecca Riordan is by far the best introduction to AJAX I've yet to encounter--and possibly the most lucid web development book I have read thus far! Head First AJAX beautifully clarifies a lot of JavaScript concepts, like how to traverse the Dom, how to insert multiple event handlers, and how to validate forms in addition to providing insight on synchronous requests and (asynchronous) AJAX. The book uses a variety of sites, including word game sites, a movie review form submission page, and an image-reliant Yoga site. First, for newcomers to Web development, it is important to read the books in the following order before arriving at AJAX: 1. HTML5, 2. CSS3, 3. Javascript (John Pollock's beginner's Javascript book is the place to start), 4. JQuery, 5. PHP, 6. MySQl, and, finally, 7. AJAX. (Although JQuery, PHP, and MySQL are not vital to getting to know AJAX, knowing at least some PHP and MySQL can help advance the readers' understanding on the server side component of AJAX). Second, the strengths of Head First AJAX are far reaching, including a clear explanation of what it means for the Javascript to speak to the server in an asynchronous manner. For those new to this concept, to be asynchronous on a Website is to avoid both 1. the flicker of Websites each time a page reloads and 2. the wait for validation data to be returned from the server before the next form element, for example, can be filled out. Another great feature of asynchronous requests is that the Javascript can tell the server to update only a single part of the page rather than the entire page. Further to the strengths, Head First AJAX provides utility functions (which are functions that are used frequently throughout the scripts and separated into their own file) that work across browsers. For example, a utility function for adding event handlers in either Internet Explorer or DOM level 2 browsers, such as Firefox, is included. Also, a utility function for creating requests sent to the server (to update the page with, say, validation data or new content) is provided that works across both old and new Internet Explorer and Dom Level 2 browsers. Additional positives about the book include an extraordinary relay of what the Document Object Model (DOM) is and how to access it with Javascript. Previously, I had only a superficial knowledge of the DOM, but the Head First book breaks it down into diagrammatic trees, including discussions on text nodes and text node values. Accessing the DOM with Javascript is made crystal clear. A fantastic discussion of the benefits of XML and JSON for data transfers is presented in the book, although I was not clear on where exactly the XML and JSON data is stored and how it connects to the overall scripts. Likely this misgiving of mine is due to my lack of experience with XML and JSON, especially as it relates to the server. Nonetheless, Head First AJAX provides an excellent springboard for learning these technologies in further depth. One piece of advice for the reader to heed is to know that the PHP component of server communications is not discussed in any meaningful detail in the book. It is assumed that the reader will have someone take care of the PHP server communications. However, in reality, the reader will need to at least know some basic PHP for understanding what type of data can be sent back to the callback function (to clarify, a callback function is indicated in the Javascript code as the function to utilize the returned PHP data). I would recommend reading Larry Ullman's PHP series, starting with his PHP for the Web, followed by his PHP and MySQL, and topped with his MySQL. I haven't read the Head First PHP and MySQL book, but, after reading Head First AJAX, I certainly plan on doing so. Head First AJAX may be considered the most helpful book in the entire spectrum of Web development books I have read thus far. It consistently illuminates basic AJAX concepts with clear and fun explanations, and, in the process, makes crystal clear a lot of fundamental Javascript. https://www.amazon.com/Ajax-Definitive-Guide-Interactive-Applications/dp/0596528388