Ajax (programming)

Ajax (also AJAX; /ˈeɪdʒæks/) is a set of web development techniques used on the client-side to create asynchronous web applications.

Description

Ajax is not a single technology, but a group of technologies, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

With Ajax, web applications can send data to and retrieve from a web server asynchronously (in the background) without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing page.

Document Object Model

The Document Object Model (DOM) is accessed with JavaScript to dynamically display -- and allow the user to interact with -- the information presented.

Retrieving data using JavaScript and XMLHttpRequest

JavaScript and the XMLHttpRequest object provide a method for exchanging data asynchronously between browser and server to avoid full page reloads.

Web services

Ajax web applications typically request data from web services.

Name

The name Ajax short for "asynchronous JavaScript and XML".

Despite the name, Ajax requests may be synchronous, and may use some data format other than XML, notably JSON.

See also

• Client-side
• Client-side scripting
• Dynamic HTML
• Dynamic web page
• Document Object Model
• JavaScript
• Server-side
• Web application
• Web application framework
• XMLHttpRequest

External links

• Ajax (programming) @ Wikipedia