Like everyone else, I was amazed when I saw some rich client applications like Google Maps and Google Suggest. I wondered how could you do that. Well, the secret is now out, AJAX. After spending some time learning what AJAX is all about. Here is real working example of AJAX for a perfect scenario and how we are using it in JavaRSS.com.

What is AJAX: AJAX is an architecture and not a technology. AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript And XML.

Punch Line: Lazy loading.

Problem: When JavaRSS.com homepage loads, it loads the description of all the items (if you have it enabled in settings). The description is not visible until you hover the mouse over the item.

The problem is that the user may not hover the mouseover every item on every channel. So pre loading all description is not good.

Solution: Using AJAX, the item description is loaded dynamically from the server only on mouseover.

This will reduce the initial page load size by more than half, there by loading the page faster for a better user experience.

AJAX in Action ebook

Read More