Because it leverages the browser and the web directly. I don't think of it as a replacement for traditional applications, but I do see it as an important step towards improving the functionality of the web.

Quote:Original post by Kylotan
Because it leverages the browser and the web directly. I don't think of it as a replacement for traditional applications, but I do see it as an important step towards improving the functionality of the web.

Agreed. I'm not sure I would agree that web development != development, however. The difference being that here we are leveraging the power of the browser rather than making up custom compiled apps. So the platform for launching these apps is already in place on most machines, which gives you a much wider audience than you could achieve with other application frameworks without considerable effort in deploying your product.

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Michael Tanczos

I heard of ajax just recently and may be wrong but this is how I feel about ajax:

Wouldn't ajax be most appropriate for huge sites with databases such as member management and such? and with at least 1000 members, to simplify search.
or when a lot ( over 1Mbs of text ) of content MUST be delivered on one page.
Forexample, I currently developed an administration tool and has several categories, and the size is over 1Mbs on one HTML page.
I can do several things to avoid the download lag of 5 seconds on high speed internet:
1) make each of the 20 categories 1 page. and save each time the customers change something in 1 category, which is extremely inconvenient.
2) use ajax, get fast downloading speed, and save everything at once in the end.

I doubt there's many things that NEED ajax, but I feel ajax will become common as technology grows and as the prices of softwares drop. It seems like sooner or later, database systems will be implemented in schools and parents will be able to find out when their child was absent, his scores on each test and etc... ( if the law permits this that is )

I believe what ajax makes possible is to retreive dynamic content without refreshing the page. so, where ever search is required, and has a lot of database content may be a good place to implement ajax.

here check out this cool link: http://developer.ebusiness-apps.com/
pinnacle of ajax technology.

Easiest things that can be AJAX-beneficial:

1)Form validation
2)Password strength checks
3)Inline searching
4)Gallery slideshows
5)Office Apps(I have written a MSExcel,MSWord and MSProject mockup.)
6)Live Search
7)Spellfix(spellcheck for the web)
8)Dynamic forms

Extreme AJAX Programming:
1)Live whiteboarding
2)Non-java,non-flash chat systems without flicker
3)UML Apps


Things that are overused for AJAX:
1)Login systems
2)Live commenting
3)Date retrieval



However, what a lot of people in-the-know know are that you really don't need ajax. You could use frames to send data back and forth...AJAX is just cleaner.

Things that make AJAX worthwhile:
1)No page reloads
2)Multiple libraries
3)Clean coding structure
4)Allows for 'secondary page loading'
5)

Banes of AJAX:
1)Lack of directly controlling page state(using frames, even in conjuction with AJAX fixes this)
2)Overuse
3)Some sites are not developing their apps to be cross-platform and cross-browser compliant
4)LAck of knowledge for some users causes poor site design and implementation

Do yourself a favor, anyone learning AJAX, buy Ajax in Action and visit ajaxian.com and ajaxpatterns frequently. Learn patterns in web programming. And make every single page 1) accessable, 2) cross-platform compliant, 3) cross-borwser complaint, and 4) no bulked with AJAX.

Quote:Original post by Sander

Pinnacle? None of their live examples work for me (FF 1.5). All I get are &#106avascript errors.

yikes, I don't get any kind of loading done on my opera either.
Hm.. didn't know that. and Idek why I used IE to view that page.
But still, it's amazing. no? try it with IE.

Quote:Original post by Anonymous Posta
However, what a lot of people in-the-know know are that you really don't need ajax. You could use frames to send data back and forth...AJAX is just cleaner.

That's what I did. I used frames to transfer data back and forth, in my shopping mall administration area, to get member informations. but it's really messy. and another thing bad about frames is that you can press the back button. EXTREMELY NOT PROFESSIONAL LOOKING.

Well, I guess that depends on the situation.
In my case, I have a main iframe, and you can change member status from inside the iframe.

Let's say I changed the payment status for 10 people. ( Saves as soon as a button is clicked ) Then I do other stuff in the administration area. I decided to press the back button. and the things are not changed. Because things are not loaded on runtime. The pages need to be constantly refreshed, being able to press back and being able to see what was there before can be confusing.

My program also allows to collect money from selected persons with a single mouse click. (It doesn't right now but it will very soon, for people to be allowed to collect monthly payments) Okay.... That is bad. If I press back, and don't realize that I've received payment already, I'm gonna charge certain people twice, thus having the back button makes an environment where novice computer users can make errors that can send them (and me) to jail for fraud.

***********PLEASE VIEW WITH INTERNET EXPLORER**********************
http://shenu.com/ohsusa
***********PLEASE VIEW WITH INTERNET EXPLORER**********************

This is the project that I am currently working on. I did everything from scratch except for a few &#106avascripts I've got online. Check it out. It's currently about 40% completed, but still most things work. ( I'd say 40% of the remaining work goes to the GUI for the customers to easily to operate the shopping mall and to make it look a bit more fancy, and writing manuals and docs of course )
and if you want to test the credit cards, the name of billing (card holder) should be cardtest, and the test card# is 4111111111111111. You can test pay after you join the member. The Administration password is "test" btw.

I'm considering ajax. but I don't know if I can get my project completed in time if I incorporate ajax into it, since I am totally not familiar with XML or DOM. But, yea... if you try my shoppingmall software, view the source and see how i'm transfering data. it's a real big pain in the ass, and it's real messy. I mean I'm sure it can be done better, and cleaner. and I'm considering writing the code again.

so, that's why going back can be bad. Sorry about talking in terms of my own software, being able to press back, can be used efficiently. That was a wrong generalization.

[Edited by - Tradone on April 19, 2006 9:57:04 AM]

ie. Generate a unique transaction ID in the payment form, and stick it in the database when they submit. If they end up clicking submit twice or refreshing by accident or whatever, the IDs will be duplicated and you can check for that, or even have your app crash out with a DUPLICATE PRIMARY KEY SQL error :)