What is the best way to learn AJAX?
Asked by
Perchik (
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December 22nd, 2006
AJAX-Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, looks to be a great new web programming language that has recently generated a lot of conversation. I am trying to figure out the best way to go about learning it. I know HTML and Java, but know very little Javascript or XML. Any suggestions?
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5 Answers
If you're planning on learning AJAX for creating a websites (like this one), you should probably look into AJAX Libraries... which not only make AJAX easier to approach, but are also a great way to get started, because many have tutorials and documentation.
I'm a big fan of MochiKit (used in this site), but some other excellent options exist like Dojo, Yahoo UI, Scriptaculous/Prototype, and more.
As someone who recently knew lots of Java but no javascript, here's a couple tips: Javascript is incredibly flexible, but still a full fledged language... so you can just sprinkle in a little, or go full blown OO. But debugging it is a huge pain. Immediately get Firebug (
http://www.getfirebug.com/) for Firefox. This tool is also a great way to learn Javascript... go to cool pages, and see how they work.
Start with Prototype/Scriptaculous it is by far the easiest to learn, use, and implement. On the other hand Mochikit as ben has recommended is far more powerful in the sense that it is in it’s self structured more like a language inside javascript, where Prototype is just lots of functions that do all of the basic pretty side of AJAX. It really depends on what you want do, if you want fast, easy, and cool looking AJAX go with Prototype. However if you want to be able to do really crazy and also cool things with AJAX and JavaScript like a full windowing environment inside a browser then Miochikit is the way to go.
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