dotServing Using Ajax (July 15 2007)
I have just setup the Contact Us Form to use Ajax instead of your typical form. As readers may recall, about a month ago I took on Ajax and decided to start learning it.
By using Ajax, data is transfered in small amounts behind the scenes so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded. Only a small section of the website is actually reloaded. Therefore, less data is transfered when the end user or website visitor is viewing the site.
Ajax is an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML.
An iframe used to be used to ensure that the entire website does not have to be reloaded however iframes did not always work with search engines as they could not read the information within an iframe.
With Ajax, the data can be read with no problems.
Ajax is web application model Google is using when you type in a search term on their website (also known as Google Suggest). While typing in letters, Google supplies the user with suggestions as to what to search for as they are typing it in.
Another example is the Google Maps feature. Google Maps also uses Ajax so the website does not need to be reloaded.
Other examples of where Ajax is being used at is A9.com (Amazon's search engine), Flickr and gmail.
Welcome to Web 2.0.
