Ajax is no longer an experimental approach to website development, but the key to building browser-based applications that form the cornerstone of Web 2.0. Head First Ajax gives you an up-to-date perspective that lets you see exactly what you can do -- and has been done -- with Ajax. With it, you get a highly practical, in-depth, and mature view of what is now a mature development approach.

Using the unique and highly effective visual format that has turned Head First titles into runaway bestsellers, this book offers a big picture overview to introduce Ajax, and then explores the use of individual Ajax components -- including the JavaScript event model, DOM, XML, JSON, and more -- as it progresses. You'll find plenty of sample applications that illustrate the concepts, along with exercises, quizzes, and other interactive features to help you retain what you've learned.

Head First Ajax covers:

* The JavaScript event model
* Making Ajax requests with XMLHTTPREQUEST objects
* The asynchronous application model
* The Document Object Model (DOM)
* Manipulating the DOM in JavaScript
* Controlling the browser with the Browser Object Model
* XHTML Forms
* POST Requests
* XML Syntax and the XML DOM tree
* XML Requests & Responses
* JSON -- an alternative to XML
* Ajax architecture & patterns
* The Prototype Library

The book also discusses the server-side implications of building Ajax applications, and uses a "black box" approach to server-side components.