Apr 22, 2009
Want more control over the user experience? Because Flash makes graphical programming quick, easy, and attractive, and because JavaScript is very effective at manipulating HTML, they can be leveraged to focus on their strengths. Kris Hadlock shows you how to extend AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) by cross-communicating between Flash and JavaScript. Discover how this technique enables technologies to focus on specialized tasks, and helps create the ultimate user experience. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
AJAX, an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is very hot in the growing universe of Web development. While this new technology offers some great capabilities, it also sparks some unquestionable debate over issues with the Back button. Kris Hadlock explains how to use AJAX in a real-world situation and how you can assess its value in a project. By the time you finish reading this article, you'll know what AJAX is as well as where, why, and how to use it. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
Imagine using a simple HTML file to send a request to a server-side script, receive a custom XML file based on that request, and then display it to the user without ever refreshing the browser! Kris Hadlock explains how to use a combination of PHP and AJAX to create real-time data transfers in any application without a browser refresh. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
Kris Hadlock's AJAX exploration continues with an explanation of how to create real-time data transfers with databases. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
Kris Hadlock explains how to use design patterns for AJAX development to keep your applications scalable, reusable, and efficient. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
User interaction drives Web sites. It's essential to understand how to handle the responses, especially with new forms of interaction such as AJAX. Kris Hadlock covers the essentials of the AJAX request-and-response process that you need to know to be ready for user interaction. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
With all of the new AJAX effects frameworks popping up on the Web, have you ever wondered just how they do it? This article sheds some light on this question by showing how to create a custom AJAX effects object and apply custom fade functionality to it. This functionality allows you to fade any HTML elements within the page that you're developing. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
It's always important to implement some sort of security model in your database-enabled AJAX applications, says Kris Hadlock. Otherwise, you leave your database completely exposed. In this article, he shows a relatively simple procedure for including password verification in an AJAX/database interaction. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
Kris Hadlock explains how to create complex JSON data transfers between the client and server, by using AJAX and the JSON parser. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
If you're developing in AJAX, author Kris Hadlock has a few tricks you can use to avoid common issues and speed up your AJAX development time. This article shows you how to prevent cached AJAX requests, debug AJAX code with FireBug, and create a database connection. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
Ajax has taken the Web to a new level by offering an intuitive interactive model that rivals the desktop. To compete with desktop applications, database interaction is necessary to unleash the true power of an Ajax Web application. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 21, 2009
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a popular choice for Ajax, simply because it is the standard intermediate language that all programming languages are able to share. It is also supported both on the server side and client side, which makes it the most flexible solution. XML is essentially a custom tag-based structure that you, the developer, define. XML's tag-based structure is similar to that of HTML, except that HTML has predefined tags that represent its structure, such as the head, the body, tables and so on. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 21, 2009
Kris Hadlock covers everything you need to know about how to use the new Atlas framework for ASP.NET: where to get it and how to integrate it and create your own AJAX-enabled ASP.NET web site from the ground up with C#. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 21, 2009
Web forms are very important pieces of an application. They're used for registration, logging in, or even payment for services. Kris Hadlock explains the importance of creating "smart" forms and how to use AJAX to improve the forms in your applications. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 21, 2009
Adding massive amounts of data to one web page is not a recommended design approach because it can be completely disorienting to the user, and might cause him to go to another site. There are always exceptions, though, which is the case when using an accordion component to display data. Using an accordion component enables a single web page to display much more content without disorienting the user in the process. In this article, Kris Hadlock shows you how to create a custom Ajax-enabled accordion component that can lend itself to many unique situations. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
Kris Hadlock explains the importance of server-side caching for Ajax, providing a working solution that can be implemented on any PHP-enabled server. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
Ajax has certainly made itself known over the last year. Even large companies such as Google and Yahoo! have used Ajax in their Web applications and both have even created their own libraries, the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) and the Yahoo! UI Library (YUI). There are even conferences and events, such as AjaxWorld dedicated to the topic and the possibilities are steadily growing. With the increased presence has come new forms of interaction and questions about limitations. One of the most common questions is whether it's possible to create remote or cross-domain Ajax requests. The answer is yes; in this article you'll learn how to create an Ajax-enabled podcast aggregator with PHP and Ajax. Read the full article
Read more...

Oct 1, 2009
Time and again I've seen applications fail because of an unusable interface design. This not only includes the look-and-feel of the application, but the actual interaction processes that it contains. I know many people who immediately leave a Web site if it does not look appealing or function simply from the start. It doesn't matter whether the application could have helped them accomplish a goal, it simply doesn't stand a chance without usable design and functionality. Simply put, if an application doesn't look usable it's not usable. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
Web design has become more than just a pretty web site with a nice layout. While that's still part of the equation, web design has evolved into the way things work, how users interact with a web site or application, and how the entire experience is crafted. In this article, Kris Hadlock will show you how to take your old standard web forms and convert them to Ajax to enhance the experience in your applications. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
In the last Designing with Code article, Converting Forms to Ajax, Kris Hadlock showed you how to convert your standard web forms to Ajax by including a simple JavaScript object. This week you'll learn how to handle the request on the server-side and then the response on the client-side. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
Now that Ajax is becoming a standard for handling interactions on the Web it's time to use it to update form submissions. In this article you'll learn how to create a reusable Ajax process for all forms. Read the full article
Read more...

Apr 22, 2009
If you've ever developed something in JavaScript and wanted to have control over it when it was launched in a remote location, Dynamic Script Tags (DST) are the perfect solution. As you'll learn in this article, DSTs are dynamic because they are script tags added via the Document Object Model (DOM) that allow developers to point to remote JavaScript files. Although standard script tags allow access to remote JavaScript as well, DSTs provide a cleaner, more streamlined approach. This approach increases portability by streamlining setup so that anyone who implements your JavaScript component will be free from adding additional script tags that point to your server. Read the full article
Read more...

Oct 6, 2009
It's becoming increasingly popular for individuals and business that use Twitter to share their Twitter messages with the world. With "Follow me on Twitter" icons proudly displayed on many home pages, Twitter users are gaining exposure and ultimately making more connections. Some sites even display their latest twitters/tweets/tweats—choose your favorite terminology for "Twitter messages"—with a link back to their Twitter account. In this article, Kris Hadlock shows you how to use Ajax to create a simple Twitter widget to display your own Twitter messages. Read the full article
Read more...