So I came into this course, Systems Integration (IS 449) at Eastern Michigan University without a lot of knowledge as to what we would actually be doing or even who the instructor John Drake was. I pretty much knew we would be learning to connect application programs to one another, and had thought we would be using the C# language. I was somewhat delighted to hear we would actually be using AJAX programming instead, as I currently have little knowledge about the language or it uses, so I figured what a great first blog.
Wikipedia defines fines AJAX as, “sometimes written as AJAX (shorthand for asynchronous JavaScript and XML), is a group of interrelated web development techniques used on the client-side to create interactive web applications or rich Internet applications. With Ajax, web applications can retrieve data from the server asynchronously in the background without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing page. The use of Ajax has led to an increase in interactive or dynamic interfaces on web pages[1][2] and better quality of Web services due to the asynchronous mode. Data is usually retrieved using the XMLHttpRequest object. Despite the name, the use of JavaScript and XML is not actually required, nor do the requests need to be asynchronous.[3]”
More in laymen’s terms it is a process of programming web applications to react faster and utilize fewer system resources and is rapidly becoming the preferred method of programming applications. AJAX programming isn’t an entirely new language, but is really a method of grouping existing commands from HTML, XML and Java and using those commands in such a way as to improve the performance of web applications. It is quickly becoming the modern way to develop web applications and should help give Eastern’s grads a leg up on the completion for new graduated programmers. During this course the instructor has chosen to utilize “Head First Ajax” written by Rebecca M. Riordan.
The book uses a more simplistic, redundant method of teaching AJAX and its many uses. Guiding you through simply tutorials to help the user learn not just by reading, but also by doing. Although this book is intended for those who have some knowledge of HTML and Java to begin with, but would not be a great desk reference for those who are already a skilled web designer with some knowledge of AJAX.
Wikipedia defines fines AJAX as, “sometimes written as AJAX (shorthand for asynchronous JavaScript and XML), is a group of interrelated web development techniques used on the client-side to create interactive web applications or rich Internet applications. With Ajax, web applications can retrieve data from the server asynchronously in the background without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing page. The use of Ajax has led to an increase in interactive or dynamic interfaces on web pages[1][2] and better quality of Web services due to the asynchronous mode. Data is usually retrieved using the XMLHttpRequest object. Despite the name, the use of JavaScript and XML is not actually required, nor do the requests need to be asynchronous.[3]”
More in laymen’s terms it is a process of programming web applications to react faster and utilize fewer system resources and is rapidly becoming the preferred method of programming applications. AJAX programming isn’t an entirely new language, but is really a method of grouping existing commands from HTML, XML and Java and using those commands in such a way as to improve the performance of web applications. It is quickly becoming the modern way to develop web applications and should help give Eastern’s grads a leg up on the completion for new graduated programmers. During this course the instructor has chosen to utilize “Head First Ajax” written by Rebecca M. Riordan.
The book uses a more simplistic, redundant method of teaching AJAX and its many uses. Guiding you through simply tutorials to help the user learn not just by reading, but also by doing. Although this book is intended for those who have some knowledge of HTML and Java to begin with, but would not be a great desk reference for those who are already a skilled web designer with some knowledge of AJAX.
James,
ReplyDeleteNice post on what to expect with the book. With absolutely no knowledge of how to program using AJAX, I look forward to the simplicity of this book. The only issue I may have is that it may be too simplisitic as Terry had blogged about.
That was good information on what AJAX is, but I do believe that AJAX is more closely related to JSP, which integrates java script togather with html. I look forward in learning about this type of web development, I do believe it will be usefull in a potential work place
ReplyDeleteJames, Thanks so much for the post. It's unknown territory for me and it wasn't clear to me why we are using it but after reading, "it is a process of programming web applications to react faster and utilize fewer system resources and is rapidly becoming the preferred method of programming applications." I'm excited to learn more about it.
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