Getting to know AJAX

It's out there and any developer creating forms or any interactivity with the user online should be having a look in to AJAX

What is AJAX?

• With AJAX you can create better, faster, and more user-friendly web applications.
• AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript And XML.
• AJAX is based on JavaScript and HTTP requests.
• AJAX is a type of programming made popular in 2005 by Google (with Google Suggest).
• AJAX is not a new programming language, but a new way to use existing standards.
• Ajax, or AJAX, (Asynchronous Javascript And XML) is a web development technique used for creating interactive web applications.

Ajax is asynchronous in that extra data is requested from the server and loaded in the background without interfering with the display and behaviour of the existing page. JavaScript is the scripting language in which Ajax function calls are usually made. Data is retrieved using the XMLHttpRequest object that is available to scripting languages run in modern browsers. There is, however, no requirement that the asynchronous content is formatted in XML.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(programming)


Some working AJAX tutorials you can copy and paste to get a handle on AJAX

Ajax tutorial by Tizag - one of my favorate sites for simple explanations

W3Schools Ajax Tutorial