Internet Programming Technologies
by Leif Fifer
Using AJAX AND JQUERY For The Best Results
In my last article about front-end architecture, I touched on how jQuery and Ajax techniques can improve the overall functionality and appearance of a website. In this article, I would like to expand a bit more on these two topics because I believe there are some real benefits to understanding the two.
jQuery vs. Ajax: What's The Difference?
Some folks use the terms jQuery and Ajax interchangeably but there are some definite differences. jQuery is a popular "open source" JavaScript library that facilitates interaction between JavaScript and HTML. It features many customizable functions that developers can utilize to enhance usability, handle events and create powerful front end visual features that can improve the web site. This all contributes to the creation of navigation tabs, visual pop-up effects and quick pull-out tabs that you see on today's more powerful and dynamic web pages. Best of all, users can take advantage of these tools to find what they are looking for quickly without ever leaving the page. Here is an example of an event calendar developed with jQuery that an end user can easily browse through by clicking on the tabs while remaining on the original page. This enables the end user to choose from a list of years, months and dates without leaving the page. Ajax could then be used to pull a selected date from the back-end server database to the front-end web page and display it without a page reload.
JQUERY EXAMPLE
ANOTHER JQUERY EXAMPLE
That explains jQuery, but what about Ajax? For starters, Ajax is short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. How's that for a mouthful? Ajax combines advanced JavaScript, XML and CSS techniques, but the key difference lies in the "asynchronus" part. Asynchronous programming performs functions that could take a long time to complete, such as opening large files, connecting to remote computers, or querying a database. An asynchronous task executes behind the scenes, independent from the page the end user is viewing. When an asynchronous application is utilized to retrieve data in the background, the web site can continue to be viewed without interuption. The data can then display without having to load another page or refreshing. Most web users have probably encountered examples of Ajax programming many times and never even realized it because it integrates so seamlessly into the page.
In closing, both jQuery and Ajax are powerful client-side techniques that developers can use separately or together to make your site the most advanced and user-friendly it can be. While they are not officially new languages unto themselves, they both combine existing technologies to create new tools.
Contact Leif at lfifer@praxisagency.com.