Re: JavaScript by any other name is "AJAX"?
Re: JavaScript by any other name is "AJAX"?
- Subject: Re: JavaScript by any other name is "AJAX"?
- From: "Jerry W. Walker" <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 11:31:07 -0500
Hi, Paul,
On Mar 29, 2006, at 10:56 AM, Paul Lynch wrote:
On 29 Mar 2006, at 15:59, Jerry W. Walker wrote:
Hi, Paul,
On Mar 29, 2006, at 9:35 AM, Paul Lynch wrote:
Digression: I find it mildly irritating when people refer to
standard, simple javascript or css tricks as "AJAX"; I always
think that Shakespeare got it wrong when he said that "a rose by
any other name would smell as sweet".
That's an interesting comment. What is it that you find mildly
irritating, any use of the term, "AJAX", or its dilution by
referencing simple JavaScript methods as "AJAX"?
I personally believe that AJAX is a useful term for a collection
of existing technologies (JavaScript and XML asynchronously
interacting with a web server) to achieve with HTTP a user
experience that mimics the client-server experience of the 80's. I
haven't often seen it used for simple JavaScript tricks.
80s? That's an interesting choice - if the early 80s, then colour
in their 80x24 terminals was an adventurous design decision. I'd
view AJAX as a selection of technologies intended to permit more of
a GUI design than the transaction based design inherent in http.
But then that's a gradual fade in from very plain html designs, so
I guess I'd rather avoid the term at all.
Actually, I was thinking more of the late 80's, but the reason I
mentioned that decade was because of a comment made to me by a very
young programmer when I first started doing WebObjects in the 90's. I
mentioned that I felt that client-server was so much richer than the
web based programming we were doing together, which seemed like a
throwback to the old IBM 3290 terminals. He turned toward me with a
dismissive glance and said, "Client-server? That's so 1980's".
Heh, I was still feeling like the 1980's was pretty modern. But he
was in grade school then, so, of course one didn't want to reference
technologies that were THAT old! I made a mental note to avoid any
discussion of punched cards, punched paper tape and acoustic coupled
modems. :-)
Personally, I find AJAX a usable term only because its use takes the
web to a qualitatively different experience than the standard page
refresh on each Request-Response cycle. Granted, it's toward the end
of a continuum, but its use seems to leverage web servers better than
most other uses of JavaScript that I've experienced.
Regards,
Jerry
--
__ Jerry W. Walker,
WebObjects Developer/Instructor for High Performance Industrial
Strength Internet Enabled Systems
email@hidden
203 278-4085 office
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