AJAX and PHP: Building Responsive Web Applications is the most practical and efficient resource a reader can get to enter the exciting world of AJAX. This book will teach you how to create faster, lighter, better web applications by using the AJAX ingredients technologies to their full potential. Assuming a basic knowledge of PHP, XML, JavaScript and MySQL, this book will help you understand how the heart of AJAX beats and how the constituent technologies work together. This book is written web developers with a basic knowledge of PHP, XML, JavaScript and MySQL. After teaching the foundations, the book will walk you through numerous real-world case studies covering tasks you’ll be likely to need for your own applications: * Server-enabled form-validation page * Online chat collaboration tool * Customized type-ahead text entry solution * Real-time charting using SVG * Database-enabled, editable and customizable data grid * RSS aggregator application * A server-managed sortable list with drag&drop support using the script.aculo.us JavaScript toolkit

The appendices guide you through installing your working environment, using powerful tools that enable debugging, improving, and profiling your code, working with XSLT and XPath.