Ajax, the acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a method used for creating web applications more usable, and faster, to heighten user experience. Coined by Jesse James Garrett, it is the term used for the combination of technologies used, aimed to improve and enhance user experience. This method of using it makes Ajax a revolutionary approach in web application development, leading web developers are adopting.

» How the Technology Works
Ajax integrates various technologies – HTML, CSS, Document Object Modeling, XML, XMLHttpRequest, and Javascript. It loads small packets of data in the background and speeds up surfing time.

Time waiting for user interaction and server response is virtually eliminated by using an intermediary component called an Ajax engine, placed between the server and the browser served, which is downloaded in the background the instant the webpage is served. The engine displays what the use sees, as well as talks to the server without the need for user interaction.

To understand how Ajax works, one must know how web applications normally work. The user will need to input an action, data is passed to the server, and the server will in turn respond. With Ajax, server response and user interaction does not depend on each other; communication happens at any time – Asynchronous.

For example, the process for filling up a simple contact form – user fills form, submits, the entire page reloads, and displays the result message – “Thank you! Your email has been successfully sent”. The page will then require the user to click to continue surfing.

With Ajax, after the form is submitted, the form fades out (without affecting the rest of the page) and the success message fades in. The success message then refreshes with the original unfilled form without user interaction.

» Context of technology
Traditionally, the server will have to wait for users to input an action before the server responds, and the user will have to wait for the page to refresh. Ajax is able to eliminate time waiting from both the user interaction and page loading time because it acts on behalf of the user to communicate with the server.

Ajax also uses the power of Dynamic HTML and JavaScript to incorporates the visual effect of fading in/out to enhance user experience, making technology faster, less cumbersome and more pleasurable to use.

This technique of development is fast closing the gap experienced with the quickness, or responsiveness of desktop applications compared to traditional web applications

However, Ajax must be implemented with careful consideration of not only human users but robots like search engines. Because Ajax is build on codes generating bits of dynamic data, packets of data may be conceal from search robots, in “the hidden web” (Wikipedia, 2006)