Head First Ajax [Paperback]

Rebecca M. Riordan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0596515782 | ISBN-13: 978-0596515782 | Publication Date: September 2, 2008 | Edition: 1

Ajax is no longer an experimental approach to website development, but the key to building browser-based applications that form the cornerstone of Web 2.0. Head First Ajax gives you an up-to-date perspective that lets you see exactly what you can do -- and has been done -- with Ajax. With it, you get a highly practical, in-depth, and mature view of what is now a mature development approach.

Using the unique and highly effective visual format that has turned Head First titles into runaway bestsellers, this book offers a big picture overview to introduce Ajax, and then explores the use of individual Ajax components -- including the JavaScript event model, DOM, XML, JSON, and more -- as it progresses. You'll find plenty of sample applications that illustrate the concepts, along with exercises, quizzes, and other interactive features to help you retain what you've learned.

Head First Ajax covers:

• The JavaScript event model
• Making Ajax requests with XMLHTTPREQUEST objects
• The asynchronous application model
• The Document Object Model (DOM)
• Manipulating the DOM in JavaScript
• Controlling the browser with the Browser Object Model
• XHTML Forms
• POST Requests
• XML Syntax and the XML DOM tree
• XML Requests & Responses
• JSON -- an alternative to XML
• Ajax architecture & patterns
• The Prototype Library

The book also discusses the server-side implications of building Ajax applications, and uses a "black box" approach to server-side components.

Head First Ajax is the ideal guide for experienced web developers comfortable with scripting -- particularly those who have completed the exercises in Head First JavaScript -- and for experienced programmers in Java, PHP, and C# who want to learn client-side programming.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

With twenty years experience in the field, Rebecca M. Riordan has earned an international reputation for designing and implementing computer systems that are technically sound, reliable, and effectively meet her clients' needs. Her particular area of expertise is database design and she is a five year Access MVP. Rebecca has also authored several database books and served as a senior technical support engineer for Microsoft's database products. As a Microsoft employee in Australia, Rebecca was the Senior technical support engineer for Microsoft's database products.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596515782
• ISBN-13: 978-0596515782
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #381,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > Ajax

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to Ajax, September 21, 2008

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Head First Ajax (Paperback)

This book is for people who already know HTML very well and are familiar - but not necessarily experts - with CSS and Javascript. If you are not in that category you should probably check out "Head First HTML and CSS" first. This is not a reference book, but a book for understanding and, more importantly remembering Ajax via an unusual presentation style. That unusual presentation style includes fake interviews, lots of illustrations, and question and answer sessions. You are also presented several designs and shown the right and wrong ways to approach problems. Ajax requires a non-traditional approach to web application design, and head first books are always good at adjusting your thought process as painlessly as possible.

The topics covered include designing Ajax applications, Javascript events, multiple event handlers, asynchronous applications, the document object model and its manipulation, frameworks and toolkits, XML requests and responses, Javascript Standard Object Notation, forms and validations, post requests, leftovers, and utility functions.

I liked this book not only for its casual and fun presentation style, but because it starts explaining Ajax at the beginning and does not get confusing as you go forward. The author knows how to ramp up the difficulty level without you really noticing. Plus, you don't feel like you need half a dozen other books to understand what's going on. The author is clear in her explanation of what the book's limitations are.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, poor editing, January 6, 2009

By 

Adam Roberts "iJazzMan Pro" (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Head First Ajax (Paperback)

First, a preface...I like Head First Books. I feel they make great primers for advanced subjects because of their plain-language approach, the playful fun they have, and the focus on the whys as opposed to a cookbook approach.

Now the review (intended for the 1st edition):

The selected content, and the order presented is excellent. I have little to add that hasn't already been shared by previous reviews.

The editing however is laced with errors. I'm only a third through the text so far and have encountered and corrected 6 significant errors in the code. These are all backed up on the HeadFirst errata page, but I have to ask...where was the editor on this book? If I wasn't very familiar with Javascript, much of this code wouldn't work without debugging.

One example as a case in point:

Beginning on page 118, there's a sequence of instructions and code to get you to build a simple tab animation with images. If you build and test the code as written in the text, it has no hope of working as the code was obviously written with different image names than the ones provided with the downloadable code. (the text has you create code [pg.119] to build image filepaths such as "images/beginnersTop.png", when the file it intends to point to is actually "images/beginnersTabActive.png".

The script I'm referring to is intended to be used as an example of bad coding choices...not bad code. It is there to show options for separating behavior from presentation. Despite that, presenting broken code is just not acceptable.

My advice...good book but wait for the next edition when O-Reilly will have hopefully fixed these errors.

And to the editor...you really dropped the ball on this one. A disappointment in an otherwise exemplary series.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very happy with this book., October 28, 2008

By 

Eric S. Ledoux - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Head First Ajax (Paperback)

I could not put this book down. I have a decent amount of experience with JavaScript and the DOM, etc., but I always thought of AJAX as something alien that would be difficult to understand. It turns out that this is just a different way of using what I already know. The book is very well organized and helps to make the concepts very understandable.