Ajax Design Patterns [Paperback]

Michael Mahemoff (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0596101805 | ISBN-13: 978-0596101800 | Publication Date: July 6, 2006 | Edition: 1

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ajax Design Patterns fills the literary void that exists in AJAX design by using real examples of best practice to enhance your apps. As with most AJAX titles it's pretty intense and hardcore reading, but then if you're into AJAX you're probably pretty hardcore too. Thankfully, Ajax Design Patterns is one of the most organised books on any programming subject. It's a massive book, but you won't get lost as the chapters are sensibly divided up and the sound layout means there's nothing whatsoever to fear. The book gets inside what makes top apps like NumSum tick and there's even a look at the code of DHTML Lemmings thrown in for good measure!" .Net, October 2006

About the Author

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

Product Details

• Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596101805
• ISBN-13: 978-0596101800
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #763,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > Ajax

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good techniques, August 11, 2006

By 

Arnel J. Domingo "cliqueyou.com" (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ajax Design Patterns (Paperback)

This book is filled with too many stories, facts and fictions. There are lots of success stories told about Ajax. Every so called "design pattern" discussion begins with a fictional story. I'm not sure if this is good, but for me it just bloats the book and adds unnecessary readings for my eyes that too easily get tired.

Most of the "patterns" discussed in this book are specific solutions. I believe design patterns are solutions to generic problems. To make it feel like you are really reading a design patterns book, the author uses the generally accepted way of presenting patterns (problem/forces/solution). It just made the book worse rather than better. Anybody who has read a real design pattern book and then read this book will soon feel the artificiality.

One minor thing is that its server side examples are written in PHP. Of course, that is not a problem for PHP guys. It should, however, be mentioned in the description.

Still, I am keeping this book. There are many JavaScript coding techniques that are very impressive and I feel will be very useful. I just need to use a couple of my highlighters to mark specific readings and techniques and so my eyes can avoid the other verbosity.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably mistitled, but still some very good information..., November 4, 2006

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ajax Design Patterns (Paperback)

Although I think the book is mistitled, there's still a lot of value to be gleaned from Ajax Design Patterns by Michael Mahemoff. It's almost more like a cookbook than a patterns guide...

Contents:
Part 1 - Introduction: Introducing Ajax; A Pattern-Led Tutorial; Ajax Design - Principles and Patterns
Part 2 - Foundational Technology Patterns: Ajax App; Display Manipulation; Web Remoting; Dynamic Behavior; Extended Technologies
Part 3 - Programming Patterns: Web Services; Browser-Server Dialogue; DOM Population; Code Generation and Reuse; Performance Optimization
Part 4 - Functionality and Usability Patterns: Widgets; Page Architecture; Visual Effects; Functionality
Part 5 - Development Patterns: Diagnosis; Testing
Part 6 - Appendixes: Ajax Frameworks and Libraries; Setting Up The Code Samples; Patterns and Pattern Languages; References; Index

Each of the chapters, such as Widgets, show a number of techniques and features that you can use in an Ajax application. In this particular case, there's the Slider, Progress Indicator, Drilldown, Data Grid, Rich Text Editor, Suggestion, Live Search, and Live Command-Line. Although each of these are presented as a "pattern", I think that's really a misuse of the term as it's commonly utilized in our industry. Patterns are general architectures that have been developed over time to solve particular types of design issues. A pattern called "Slider" is really just an example of how a slider widget can be used effectively in an Ajax application. Because of the specificity of a slider, I see that as more of a recipe than a pattern.

Having cleared that gripe, it's still an effective book. Each pattern/recipe starts with a basic usage story, followed by the problem statement, the forces that come into play, the actual solution, decisions that need to be addressed, real-world examples, alternatives to this particular feature, related patterns/recipes, and references to more information about the feature. This particular format makes for a very comprehensive discussion of each item, more so than you'd get in a straight tutorial or reference guide. As such, I think it makes for a good addition to the Ajax bookshelf...

As a true "patterns" guide, I think it misses what it tries to set out to do. As a cookbook for Ajax techniques, it works quite well...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must have" Ajax Resource for every Web 2.0 developer., February 26, 2008

By 

Rodrigo Costa (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ajax Design Patterns (Paperback)

Let me get something straight here: Michael Mahemoff really knows how to teach, this book is one of the most appropriated books for those who want to learn about AJAX and in this review I'll tell you why I think so.
First of all, the book starts explaining all the basics of AJAX with its definitons, how it works, related technologies and more. But the best point is: the author always explains using real-life examples, which makes everything easier to understand. The following chapters cover the AJAX Design Patterns properly. You can think about these design patterns as specific solutions, for example "how to made an auto-complete box with ajax", which will give you a great variety of "what can I do with ajax" things. The book also covers some architectural patterns too.
I think the main goal of this book is not only the great diversity of solutions that you can apply in your projects, but how the author explains them. He always starts the explanation of a design pattern with a brief history of how this pattern can help you giving real examples on where these patterns have being applied. Don't forget that one of the main goals of Design Patterns is to create a "vocabulary" to make an easier reference about a specific subject, and this book completely achieves this goal by giving names for each one of those solutions represented as a Design Pattern.
That's why I believe this book is a "must have" for any AJAX professional or student.