Ajax Hacks: Tips & Tools for Creating Responsive Web Sites (Hacks) by Bruce Perry

Product Description


Ajax, the popular term for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is one of the most important combinations of technologies for web developers to know these days. With its rich grouping of technologies, Ajax developers can create interactive web applications with XML-based web services, using JavaScript in the browser to process the web server response.

Taking complete advantage of Ajax, however, requires something more than your typical "how-to" book. What it calls for is Ajax Hacks from O'Reilly. This valuable guide provides direct, hands-on solutions that take the mystery out of Ajax's many capabilities. Each hack represents a clever way to accomplish a specific task, saving you countless hours of searching for the right answer.

A smart collection of 80 insider tips and tricks, Ajax Hacks covers all of the technology's finer points. Want to build next-generation web applications today? This book can show you how. Among the multitude of topics addressed, it shows you techniques for:
Using Ajax with Google Maps and Yahoo Maps
Displaying Weather.com data
Scraping stock quotes
Fetching postal codes
Building web forms with auto-complete functionality

Ajax Hacks also features a number of advanced hacks for accelerated web developers. Discover how to create huge, maintainable bookmarklets, how to use client-side storage for Ajax applications, and how to call a built-in Java object from JavaScript using Ajax. The book even addresses best practices for testing Ajax applications and improving maintenance, performance, and reliability for JavaScript code.

The latest in O"Reilly's celebrated Hacks series, Ajax Hacks smartly complements other O'Reilly titles such as Head Rush Ajax and JavaScript: The Definitive Guide.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #128133 in Books
Published on: 2006-03-21
Format: Illustrated
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
438 pages
Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Bruce Perry is an independent Java software developer and writer. Since 1996, he has developed web applications and databases for various nonprofits, design and marketing firms, and ad agencies. When not hacking or writing, he loves cycling and climbing mountains in the U.S. and Switzerland. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife Stacy LeBaron, daughter Rachel, and son Scott.
Customer Reviews

Broad Coverage Of AJAX
I found the spectrum of AJAX coverage very broad. If you are interested in finding out a little about a lot of areas of AJAX this book is alright. I found it's coverage too broad.

Not impressed
O'Reilly offers some excellent books. This is not one of them.

Every example I looked at seemed ... not a good example of how to use Javascript. Paging through the book, there are many examples of poor practice in the code. I would be tempted use this book as a source text for bad examples. The ideas might be OK, but the code ... oh please, no.

Wonderful AJAX Companion Book
AJAX Hacks by Bruce Perry is a wonderful companion book for any and all AJAX programmers. AJAX has revolutionized the web programming world, enabling developers to write web pages that act more like real applications that we all know and love. AJAX is a simple technology that allows people to do amazing things, and now there is a book that will show you the ins and outs of creating cool code which is fast, efficient, and easy to use!! With over 400 pages and 80 hacks/tips/tricks, this book is perfect for users that are just learning AJAX and quickly want to accomplish a particular goal. Instead of painfully going through a 600 page book, get to the task you want to accomplish quickly with this excellent book!!

Major topics covered:

01. Ajax Basics
02. Web Forms
03. Validation
04. Power Hacks for Web Developers
05. Directing Web Remoting
06. Prototype and Rico Libraries
07. Ajax with Ruby
08. script.aculo.us
09. Options & Efficiencies

Great book, great writing, great deal!!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED