Ajax Design Patterns (Paperback)

Description

Ajax, or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, exploded onto the scene in the spring of 2005 and remains the hottest story among web developers. With its rich combination of technologies, Ajax provides a strong foundation for creating interactive web applications with XML or JSON-based web services by using JavaScript in the browser to process the web server response.

Ajax Design Patterns shows you best practices that can dramatically improve your web development projects. It investigates how others have successfully dealt with conflicting design principles in the past and then relays that information directly to you.

The patterns outlined in the book fall into four categories:

• Foundational technology: Examines the raw technologies required for Ajax development
• Programming: Exposes techniques that developers have discovered to ensure their Ajax applications are maintainable
• Functionality and usability: Describes the types of user interfaces you'll come across in Ajax applications, as well as the new types of functionality that Ajax makes possible
• Development: Explains the process being used to monitor, debug, and test Ajax applications

 

Ajax Design Patterns will also get you up to speed with core Ajax technologies, such as XMLHttpRequest, the DOM, and JSON. Technical discussions are followed by code examples so you can see for yourself just what is-and isn't-possible with Ajax. This handy reference will help you to produce high-quality Ajax architectures, streamline web application performance, and improve the user experience.

Michael Mahemoff holds a PhD in Computer Science and Software Engineering from the University of Melbourne, where his thesis was "Design Reuse in Software Engineering and Human-Computer Interaction." He lives in London and consults on software development issues in banking, health care, and logistics.

"Michael Mahemoff's Ajax Design Patterns is a truly comprehensive compendium of web application design expertise, centred around but not limited to Ajax techniques. Polished nuggets of design wisdom are supported by tutorials and real-world code examples resulting in a book that serves not only as an intermediate to expert handbook but also as an extensive reference for building rich interactive web applications."
--Brent Ashley, remote scripting pioneer

 

Table of Contents

Preface
Part One. Introduction
1. Introducing Ajax
      Ajax and the Usable Web
      The Rise of Ajax
      Ajaxifying the Web: The Story of Portals
      Webifying the Desktop: The Story of Office Applications
      Characteristics of Ajax Applications
      The Ajax Technologies
      Anatomy of a Server Call
      Ajax Trends
      Conclusions
2. A Pattern-Led Tutorial
      Ajax Technologies in a Blink
      Ajaxifying a Web App: One Pattern at a Time
      Projects and Katas
      Conclusions
3. Ajax Design: Principles and Patterns
      Desirable Attributes of Ajax Applications
      Designing for Ajax
      Ajax Patterns Overview
      Anatomy of a Pattern
      Ajax Patterns Demos
      Conclusions
Part Two. Foundational Technology Patterns
4. Ajax App
      Ajax App
5. Display Manipulation
      Display Morphing
      Page Rearrangement
6. Web Remoting
      Web Service
      XMLHttpRequest Call
      IFrame Call
      HTTP Streaming
      On-Demand JavaScript
7. Dynamic Behavior
      User Action
      Scheduling
8. Extended Technologies
      Richer Plugin
Part Three. Programming Patterns
9. Web Services
      RESTful Service
      RPC Service
      Ajax Stub
      HTML Message
      Plain-Text Message
      XML Message
      JSON Message
10. Browser-Server Dialogue
      Call Tracking
      Periodic Refresh
      Submission Throttling
      Explicit Submission
      Distributed Events
      Cross-Domain Proxy
11. DOM Population
      XML Data Island
      Browser-Side XSLT
      Browser-Side Templating
12. Code Generation and Reuse
      Server-Side Code Generation
      Cross-Browser Component
13. Performance Optimization
      Browser-Side Cache
      Predictive Fetch
      Guesstimate
      Multi-Stage Download
      Fat Client
Part Four. Functionality and Usability Patterns
14. Widgets
      Slider
      Progress Indicator
      Drilldown
      Data Grid
      Rich Text Editor
      Suggestion
      Live Search
      Live Command-Line
      Live Form
15. Page Architecture
      Drag-And-Drop
      Sprite
      Popup
      Malleable Content
      Microlink
      Portlet
      Status Area
      Update Control
      Virtual Workspace
16. Visual Effects
      One-Second Spotlight
      One-Second Mutation
      One-Second Motion
      Highlight
17. Functionality
      Lazy Registration
      Direct Login
      Host-Proof Hosting
      Timeout
      Heartbeat
      Unique URLs
Part  Five. Development Patterns
18. Diagnosis
      Logging
      Debugging
      DOM Inspection
      Traffic Sniffing
19. Testing
      Simulation Service
      Browser-Side Test
      Service Test
      System Test
Part Six. Appendixes
A. Ajax Frameworks and Libraries
B. Setting Up the Code Examples
C. Patterns and Pattern Languages
D. References
index