Ajax - the new web design paradigm
April 11, 2006No, I’m not referring to the washing detergent. Ajax is a new web design paradigm, the goal which is to give web-based applications the same level of user interactivity and functionality that you’d find in a Desktop application. If GMail is any indication, Ajax has already been a partial success.
I’m investigating whether it’s feasible to use Ajax in a web-based project that I’m about to work on. As the application requires a considerable amount of user-interactivity, Ajax looks to be the best candidate for the job. It’s either that or go back to the JSP/Javabeans-powered design I was using previously. A design which, despite my best efforts, was clunky to maintain.
It’s still early days yet - I’m still investigating different Ajax development tools. The most prominent being Backbase. Hopefully there are other tools out there that can be used. There will also be an Ajax-plugin available for Eclipse. The biggest problem is which server technology can be used. We use Microsoft’s IIS (Internet Information Server) at work, but most examples use the Open Source Tomcat server instead (which I personally prefer). After several bitter experiences with Microsoft on my current project, I’m not looking forward to using Micro$oft technology again.
**Sigh** Why can’t we just use Open-Source like everyone else?
