AJAX - Building Applications with AJAX

Audience

This course is for Web developers or desktop application developers with experience in web technologies, who wish to develop the skills needed to apply AJAX technologies to existing web applications, or to architect and implement new applications that can benefit from the AJAX approach.

Prerequisites

Delegates must be technical staff with solid experience using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in conventional web pages, including web-based forms, as well as familiarity with XML. Attending our 4 day Javascript Developers Programme would provide the ideal pre-requisites.

Duration

2 days. Hands on.

Course Objectives

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) is the popular term for a broad collection of technologies and techniques that enable web-based applications to have the usability and responsiveness previously achievable only by installed applications. AJAX is a key element in the Web 2.0 revolution, and now seems poised to revolutionize software development in general with the promise of ending the hassles of deployment, installation, and release management for specialized applications. The course consists of hands-on workshops combined with short lecture sessions to provide explanation and introduction to techniques, and to position the workshop experience within the overall application development picture. Emphasis is on understanding and directly implementing basic AJAX techniques and using some essential client-side libraries to implement AJAX apps productively; and on applying these techniques to enhance the user experience and to support an effective application architecture. On completion of the course delegates will:

• Fully understand what AJAX is, how it works, and what differentiates an AJAX application from a conventional web application.
• Be able to improve usability of existing web pages by combining AJAX techniques and page elements with static elements.
• Be able to send and receive data from the application server without interrupting the user’s workflow by refreshing the page.
• Use such data in either XML or JSON format to add to, remove from, or update the page’s content.
• Understand how asynchronous updates may improve (or detract from) the user’s experience and perception of the application.
• Have solid experience using development tools including Javascript debuggers, DOM inspectors, and profilers to observe, debug and improve performance of AJAX apps.
• Implement and bring home a set of frequently-used AJAX interaction techniques to use as a starting points in adding AJAX to actual applications.
• Be able to use popular libraries including Prototype, Dojo, Sarissa, and Scriptaculous to simplify AJAX implementation and insure cross-browser compatibility.
• Understand and apply the Model-View-Controller pattern in designing, implementing and refactoring user-interfaces.
• Understand the value and features of emerging AJAX frameworks and support for server tools supporting AJAX techniques including RubyOnRails, Backbase, Atlas, Telerik, Tibco.

Course Content

What Is AJAX?
How AJAX is different from classic web pages
Its impact on the user experience
What kind of applications can benefit
Who is using it now, and why
Why AJAX totally changes Web Application development
How AJAX can be integrated with conventional Web Applications

Basic AJAX Techniques
Using CSS to define look and feel
Understanding the DOM
Using JavaScript to create, remove, move and stylize content
Communicating with the server (Iframes, XmlDocument, XMLHttpRequest)
Essential AJAX Development Tools

Using AJAX Effectively
Managing Asynchronous Activities
Impacts on User Experience
Impacts on the Development Process
Patterns To Guide Implementation
Application Evolution and Code Reuse
The Value of Libraries

JavaScript Way Beyond on Methods
It may look like Java, but it is not
Managing Data
Object-based JavaScript
Callbacks/Events

Specific - And Reusable - AJAX Techniques
Related Combo Boxes
Type-Ahead Suggestions
Information Pop-Ups
Server-Side Validation
Autosaved Forms
Maps
Logins
Portals and Personalization

It is Not Just Pages Anymore
Application Architecture
The Model-View-Controller Pattern
Separating the Controller from the View
Separating the Model from the View
The Role of the Server
Client-Side Controller Implementation

You Don’t Need to Invent It All
Widgets and User Interface Effects
Remote Procedure Calls
Mashups and Web Services
Scriptaculous
Dojo
Sarissa
JSON-RPC/DWR

Building A Multi-User AJAX Application
A significantly complex client-server application that would be ineffective without AJAX is implemented over several workshop sessions.

Production-Ready AJAX
There’s more to an App than the Client-Side
Keeping the User Happy
What to Do When the Servers Not There
Security and Privacy
Test and Maintenance
Performance
Memory Usage

Overview of Frameworks Supporting Ajax
What they do and when to consider them
Backbase
Telerik
Atlas
RubyOnRails