Ajax (also known as AJAX), shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a web development technique for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change. This is meant to increase the web page’s interactivity, speed, and usability.

The Ajax technique uses a combination of:

* XHTML (or HTML) and CSS, for marking up and styling information.
* The DOM accessed with a client-side scripting language, especially ECMAScript implementations such as JavaScript and JScript, to dynamically display and interact with the information presented.
* The XMLHttpRequest object is used to exchange data asynchronously with the web server. In some Ajax frameworks and in certain situations, an IFrame object is used instead of the XMLHttpRequest object to exchange data with the web server, and in other implementations, dynamically added tags may be used.
* XML is sometimes used as the format for transferring data between the server and client, although any format will work, including preformatted HTML, plain text, JSON and even EBML. These files may be created dynamically by some form of server-side scripting.

See also

• Ajax framework
• Comet (programming)
• HTTP streaming
• Progressive enhancement
• Reverse Ajax
• Rich Internet application
• Single page application
• Unobtrusive JavaScript
• Web 2.0
• XMLHttpRequest

References

1. Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications. Adaptive Path (2005-02-18). Retrieved on 2006-08-01.
2. At subsequent talks and seminars Garrett has made the point that Ajax is not an acronym.
3. HTTPRequest-enabled RS. microsoft.public.scripting.remote newsgroup (2002-06-18). Retrieved on 2006-08-01.
4. ARSCIF: A Framework for Asynchronous Remote–Script Callback Invocation. Sebastiano Vigna. Retrieved on 2006-08-01.
5. Cutting Edge: Script Callbacks in ASP.NET. MSDN Magazine (2004-08-08). Retrieved on 2006-08-01.
6. Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax. The Internet Society (August 1998). Retrieved on 2006-07-21.
7. Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax. The Internet Society (January 2005). Retrieved on 2006-07-21.
8. Remote Scripting with AJAX, Part 2. O’Reilly XML.com (2005-08-22). Retrieved on 2006-07-21.