Tyndall

Perhaps you use LinkedIn - or Jobster - and very probably you have had a look at Google routes - so you can not but have realized that these sites and others have another look and feel. Its maybe not about but about just how which they appear easier and faster to make use of.

Therefore many web sites are slow and tedious giving the feeling to you thatyou have plenty o...

Have you seen how a feel of the net is changing?

Maybe you use LinkedIn - or Jobster - and very probably you have had a look at Google maps - so you can not but have pointed out that these others and sites have an alternative look and feel. Its maybe not about but about the way which they seem easier and faster to utilize.

So many internet sites are tedious and slow giving the impression to you thatyou have plenty of time to acquire a coffee or even go to lunch. It's the awful hourglass. You click the hourglass and a appears as the site contacts the server and the server considers what it is going to send back to you.

There is reasons for the new sites being better to utilize and faster. Its called AJAX.

Perhaps not the solution developed in 1947 nor the mythical Greek hero but a web development method.

AJAX is not new technology but a variety of existing adult systems. Its an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML and a web development technique to make web pages feel more receptive. It does this by exchanging small amounts ofdata with the machine behind the scenes and shows it without re-fetching the entire site at once, ergo the word Asynchronous.

Just in case you aren't entirely clear what asynchronous means, synchronous means that processes are dependent upon other processes 1 > > 2 > > 3 etc although asynchronous could be the ability to manage processes independently from other processes.

It may seem that adding a level to any program will make it less reactive, but because the visitor first loads an AJAX motor responsible for both providing the software the user sees and communicating with the server on the consumers part the user is very rarely staring at an hourglass star holding out for the serverto do something.

Every individual activity that normally would generate focus on the host visits the AJAX motor instead. Any response to an individual activity that doesnt need a journey back once again to the host the engine handles on its own. It creates these demands asynchronously without affecting a users interaction with the application form if the engine requires anything from the server in order to respond.

All of this means AJAX is hot just now - somewhat like Flash has been. It could be very tempting to use AJAX mainly because AJAX is great or my boss said to.

Nevertheless when you are creating any site you must think about your customers first. What do this application needed by them to accomplish? What'll make it easier to use? A great principle regarding whether or not to make use of AJAX IS: AJAX is for action not content.

You might want to think again if you are not accessing information that changes then. The point of the asynchronous request is that it makes requests to the server for data that has improved faster - whilst the reader does something different because it is happening. Then when they click a link or switch data shows up right away. Then you definitely probably should not use it to be accessed by Ajax, if your content or information never or rarely changes.

Then you can find other issues:

Site changes

When an entirely new page is produced there's a brief moment of re-adjustment if the content changes. Since this doesnt happen with smaller parts of the display this becomes more obvious. People can be left by this thinking.

Search engine optimization

Search engines do not generally read the JavaScript code necessary for AJAX. This may mean AJAX pages remain un-indexed until a static page is offered.

JavaScript

As AJAX utilizes JavaScript, which is implemented differently by different windows or even different types of the same browser the JavaScript may have to be rewritten for many browser( s) type( s) although history libraries are handling this, but a concern still arises if the user has switched off JavaScript support in the browser.

Web stats

Several web analytics solutions are derived from a new page being filled when new or updated information is displayed to an individual or to observe a process such as for instance a check-out. Since Ajax shifts this attention must be taken to account for how exactly to ensure a page or a part of a page may be accurately tracked.

Having prepared anything above, Google has made a huge investment in developing AJAX web sites. Most of the main items Google has introduced such as Orkut, Gmail, Google Groups, Google Suggest and Google Maps are AJAX applications.

However, AJAX [and other terms such as Rich Internet Applications or RIA for tolls such as Flash] are just new terms for a systems and technology combinations which have been around for years.

Given the nonsense for these conditions, it is sensible to not get overly enthusiastic. Careful examination of when and just how to use AJAX is important.

Dont overlook that Flash and other applications still don't form the cornerstone of all websites and usability is wanted by users first. If AJAX enhances the customers knowledge whether via style or pace then its worth considering vigilantly. linkedin.com/in/jayrice