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September 12: Got Ajax?

Ajax, Ajax, Ajax. It's all people seem to be talking about today. Whilst Asynchronous Javascript And XML is enough to get anyone hot and bothered with excitement, I think too much focus is being pushed towards it being some kind of web saviour, the thing we've been waiting for all our lives.

Ajax is not new, it is rumoured to have been invented by the team who made Microsoft Outlook Web Access, a product that has shipped as the Exchange server attempt at webmail since the year 2000.

But now it seems, that the same people who run around bleating "Java! Java!" at any developer who looks like they might make them a quick buck, are starting to get on the Ajax train.

As a sign of the hype surrounding Ajax, Microsoft have released their own project to promote the technology, code named "ATLAS". This is somewhat of a departure from its name pre-cool days - "XMLHttpRequest API".

I personally do not see the need to hype Ajax. Sure, Paul slipped some into SiteVista and it added a few nice touches that supplemented the app perfectly, but did not take things over the top. Even Google, pioneer of Ajax under its current identity (think Gmail/Google Maps...), has the button that lets you switch back to a basic HTML view on Gmail. That is an important factor, to enhance your app using little Ajax tweaks, but at the same time allowing the user experience to degrade gracefully when the client is unable to support it.

Too many people are hopping on bandwagons just because the pointy haired boss has heard a new buzz word. Leave it up to the proper developers, they will know when it is appropriate to use Ajax, and how best to implement it. When searching for some information to research this post, I came across a Google result that made my heart sink - "AJAX: the cross-platform successor to Java"
The title seems to show a total misunderstanding, are the same Java hype-mongers at work again?

It was nice to read a post today by Fred from WeBreakStuff, basically sharing this sentiment. Its a good post well worth a read, and he also links to an article on building Ajax to degrade gracefully.

Posted by David.

Comments

This is quite funny - AJAX allows surgeons to work from home.

Paul
September 23, 2005 9:41 AM

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