So you are going to read a book about Ajax and wonder if does make sense to read this one or another one like Ajax in Practice from Manning, or Head Rush Ajax, Professional Ajax, Pro Ajax and Java Frameworks to note only a few.
If you decide to have a look at this one, take care: the material is really deep. Definitely it is not an "instant" style like "for dummies" or "in 10 minutes", so if you think you will be an Ajax expert after reading 10 pages just
have a look at another one, this one is really for someone who understand that in order to be an expert you have to sweat.
The book starts out talking about key concepts like why Ajax, what is Ajax, what are the alternatives to Ajax, what is CSS, what is DOM, what does it mean to load the data in a browser using an asynchronous way, MVC concepts applied to a web server and some common patterns like Observer, Command or Façade.
Ok now you might already have a clear vision of Ajax basis and the world in which Ajax lives, so let's see the core techniques, and this is what the
authors present starting with the second part, just core techniques.
A few key points: if we look at a page as an application with all the MVC in a page than what is the role of a server, how to code the server side,
do we need to use frameworks for the server side and how we can exchange data.
The book is not really a practical book with pre-build examples ready to be applied, is much more oriented to the theory of Ajax and
assumes a certain level of competency, so the examples are almost all only partial or abstracted.
Starting on the 3rd part we finally see some common examples like keeping the user informed, indicating the freshness of data or designing a notification system.
But this part is not intended to offer only examples, but to be a complete support to someone who already knows the basic and expects a professional view of Ajax.
So now it is supposed to have all the info to create something from zero to the end. Well ...almost to the end because only the end of this part we will see how to add security and how to design for performance.
Now you have all the info about Ajax and want to start your own coding. The book is here to help you: just read the last part, a kind of "by example" full of examples.
Overall, the book is written in an academic manner: intro, theory, examples that prove the theory , advanced stuff, examples for the advanced stuff, practical examples. Nothing new in terms of composition.
My advice: if you like this traditional style, you want a solid background and you have the time and ability to read 600 pages , just do it , you will not regret any single page. Otherwise if you are under pressure, my advice is to read Ajax in Practice, by Manning too.
Great Book for that AJAX Geek In Us
This one thick book that covers AJAX quite well. It discusses the meaning and history of the mesh of technologies that make up AJAX, various techniques and even covers some sample projects. It took me a few times to get through the book, but I do recommend it. It's a great read for anyone doing any web development.
Incredible depth and information- don't trust the uninformed!
I read through some other user reviews before digging into this, and I noticed one major flaw in most of the lower-rated reviews: none of the reviewers seem to understand Ajax, nor what it is defined as (Asynchronous Javascript + XML)- Ajax is not some magical new scripting language, and this book is not for the person who doesn't understand the basics of OO programming or Javascript.
The book sets out to teach the reader everything they need to know about Ajax, and in that regard it succeeds brilliantly; Crane and Pascarello do their damnedest to make sure that the reader is following the best programming practices when building their apps, and guide you along the way to make sure that they explain, as best possible, why certain tasks should be handled client-side or server-side. Easy to understand diagrams and illustrations are peppered throughout to help you understand the concepts, and the code snippets are annotated by flow of functionality, allowing you to glance at a code block and understand the process, a much simpler design than the classic "3 page clarification after a huge 5 page block of code" layout that seems to pervade the tech publishing world nowadays.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to any programmer familiar with client- and server-side scripting that needs a good lesson in combining them both into a dynamic, highly functional app.
Verbos : Thick book, thin in useful information
I tried reading the book (up to chapter 8) still could not find a piece of useful information written properly or completely. Vague writing. I don't think the author has actual experience Ajax or design patterns ,he talks about.
The chapters and sample codes looks more like written by a beginner . Too much plumbing and bad coding practice.
And did I said verbose ?
Extremely Comprehensive for Beginner Through Intermediate
This book covers lots of ground coming in at 600 pages of real content. I almost gave this book 3 stars until I re-read it. It may seem verbose for the more experienced programmer, but I think would be a perfect read for the novice Javascript programmer. It really is packed full of great implementation ideas and good practices, such as the use of software patterns (MVC, singleton, adapter) and extensive code refactoring. There are tons of screen shots, images, diagrams, code examples and snippets, and external references. Although the AJAX protocol is server-side neutral, the author implements the backends in Java, C#, PHP, and VB.NET.
The biggest drawback is security coverage. Security issues in the AJAX world have really unfolded since this book was first published. This title does dedicate about 30 pages (chapter 7) to security. The author touches on the basics, like securely parsing XMLHttpRequest response data. However, I would highly recommend Ajax Security for a more in-depth study. "AJAX Security" is almost the size of this book, but entirely dedicated to security and about 2 years newer.
The book concludes with five big example applications. The fourth example implements a live search. It employs XSLT for XML parsing and presentation, which really piqued my interest. For me, the live search example is the highlight of the book.
