Bulletproof Ajax

Jeremy Keith, Aaron Gustafson9780321472663, 0321472667

Step-by-step guide reveals best practices for enhancing Web sites with Ajax A step-by-step guide to enhancing Web sites with Ajax. Uses progressive enhancement techniques to ensure graceful degradation (which makes sites usable in all browsers).Shows readers how to write their own Ajax scripts instead of relying on third-party libraries. Web site designers love the idea of Ajax–of creating Web pages in which information can be updated without refreshing the entire page. But for those who arent hard-core programmers, enhancing pages using Ajax can be a challenge. Even more of a challenge is making sure those pages work for all users. In Bulletproof Ajax, author Jeremy Keith demonstrates how developers comfortable with CSS and (X)HTML can build Ajax functionality without frameworks, using the ideas of graceful degradation and progressive enhancement to ensure that the pages work for all users. Throughout this step-by-step guide, his emphasis is on best practices with an approach to building Ajax pages called Hijax, which improves flexibility and avoids worst-case scenarios.

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Table of contents :
Bulletproof Ajax……Page 1
Contents……Page 5
Introduction……Page 7
Acknowledgments……Page 9
CHAPTERONE: What Is Ajax?……Page 10
Defining Ajax……Page 14
The Ajax Toolkit……Page 17
Summary……Page 21
CHAPTERTWO: JavaScript and the Document Object Model……Page 22
JavaScript……Page 24
The Document Object Model……Page 43
Summary……Page 53
CHAPTERTHREE: XMLHttpRequest……Page 54
Origins……Page 56
Create an Instance……Page 57
Send a Request……Page 60
Receive a Response……Page 65
Putting It All Together……Page 69
Summary……Page 74
CHAPTERFOUR: Data Formats……Page 76
XML……Page 78
JSON……Page 86
HTML……Page 96
Summary……Page 101
CHAPTERFIVE: Hijax……Page 102
Progressive Enhancement……Page 104
Unobtrusive JavaScript……Page 105
Progressive Enhancement and Ajax……Page 108
Hijax in Action……Page 112
The Deceptively Rich Client……Page 124
Summary……Page 126
CHAPTERSIX: Ajax Challenges……Page 128
Backward Compatibility……Page 130
Web Services……Page 134
Feedback……Page 135
Browser Behavior……Page 143
Wireframing……Page 146
Summary……Page 147
CHAPTERSEVEN: Ajax and Accessibility……Page 148
Understanding Screen Readers……Page 150
Screen Readers and Ajax……Page 151
State of the Art……Page 155
The Future……Page 159
Summary……Page 160
CHAPTEREIGHT: Putting It All Together……Page 162
Planning……Page 164
Applying Ajax……Page 175
Bulletproofing……Page 191
Summary……Page 195
CHAPTERNINE: The Future of Ajax……Page 196
Libraries, Frameworks, and Toolkits, Oh My!……Page 199
Choosing a Library……Page 202
Whither Ajax?……Page 203
A……Page 206
B……Page 207
D……Page 208
F……Page 209
H……Page 210
J……Page 211
O……Page 212
R……Page 213
T……Page 214
W……Page 215
Z……Page 216