rrowser or client application The
\\ iC started work on XML in 1996
ri enablecross-platformdata interop
i.rbiLjty over rhe Internet. The con-
n,.r;un approved ihe standard\ 6rst
r e r s i o n i n1 9 9 8 .
XIIL is a markup metalanguage
ihrr can define a set of lansuagesfor
lre lvirh strucrureddata in online doc'
i nrents.Any organizationcan develop
rn XMl-based languagewith its own
Cascading Aw3C stan-
stylesheets.
Jird since1996,CSSgives\gebsite
J.!elopers and usersmore control
,rer how brorvsers displaypages
DerelopereuseCSSro createstyle-
Jreersthat de6nehow differentpage
.lements,suchas headersand links,
:ppearMultiplestylesheets canapply
ro rhesameweb page.
Bocumentoblecl model.TheDOM,
r v3C srandardsince1998,is a pro-
sranning interfacethat letsdevelop
cn createand nodify HTML and
\I1L documentsas setsof program
obiects,whichmakesit easierto design
\\nb pagesrhatuserscanmanipulate
TheDOM definestheattributesasso
c,rtedwith eachobiect,asweli asrhe
\!avsin whichuserscaninteractwirh
DHTML workswithrheDOM
,,biects.
changethe appearance
r,, dynamically
oi\veb pases.
Vorkingwith theDOM makesAjax
responsive
particularly
trpplications for
Javasrript.Released in 1995 by
\etscapeandSun,Javascript interacts
rvith HTML code and makes\0eb
pagesand Aiax applicarionsmore
rcrive. For example,rhe technology
can causea linked page ro appear
ruron:tically in a PoPuPwitrdowor
ler a mouserollover changeiext or
images. Developerscan embed
Javasffipt,whichis openlyandfreely
.!ailable,in HTML pases
Ajax usesasynchronous Javascripr,
Nhichan HTML pagecanuseto make
calls asynchfonouslyto the server
irom which it was loaded!o fetch
XML documents. This capabilitylets
rn application nake a servercall,
llevelo0ln0 nichWebApplications
larue-Scale
Companiesare besinningto useAjax and irs componentrechnologiesto
Web'based
developlarge-scale, enrerPriseaPplicationsTraditionallv,thevhave
usedAjax for smaller prosrams and have developedmore imponant software
byMiciosoft, Macromedia,and SunMicrosystems.
with technolosies
Microsolt
Microsoft is reportedly trying to simplify the develoPmentof rich Web apPli-
cationsvia a plojectcode-named Atlas.Arlaswill providetoolsto beusedwith
the company'sASP.NET, which developers useto createlgeb paseswhoseele'
ments are Eearedas obiects.
Midosoft declinedIo commenrfor this article
GreEDeMichillie, leadanalyst for Direcrions on Microsoft, a markeftesearch
tum, said there is linle information about Adas excePtthat "it will work bv pro-
viding much of the boilerplatecoderhar an Ajax developerwould otherwise
haveto wlire, suchas dererminingwhich browseris beinsusedand adjusrins
rheJavascriptsentto the clientaccordingly. That nak€s Ajax aPPlications eas-
ier ro write because developerscan focusoncodespecficto theiraPplication"
tlash
Macromediat
Macrornedia's Flashis a populartypeof web aurholingsoftwde rhat creates
vector-graphics-basedanimation programs
According ro Kevin Ltnch, Macromedia3 chief software architect,AFx won't
supplantFlashbecause thetechnologiesdonl do all thesanethinss.For exam
ple,he not€d,unlikeAiax,Flashsupporrs audioandvideo Aho,hesaid, Flash
is morewidelyavailable.
Sun'sJava
applicationsoffer someadvanrases over Aiax-basedprograms,
Java-based
accordinsto Tor Norbye, a seniorstaff engineerwirh Sun.For examPle,he
explained,there are reusableJavaconponenrs and toolkits, which is not vet the
In many€ases, Norbyenoted,JavasupPonsAjax, asin theJune2005release
ofJava srudio Crearoi And, he contended,"The ideal architecturefor Aax
today is Java on the server,where the inrerestingprocessinghappens'and
Jivascript in the bro{sei"
Thus,heconcluded,"Ithink there\ room for both."
retrievenewdata,andsimuhaneously Flashandotherproprietary Veb appli
updatethe Web pase wirhout having
ro reloadall thecontents, allwhilerhe xMLHttpRequest. Systemscan use
usercontinuesintefactingwilh the JavaScript'based XMLHttpRequest
objecrsro nake HTTP requestsand
Enterpriseapplicationdevelopers receiveresponses quickly and in the
havebecome moreinterested in work background, withoutthe userexperi
ingwithJavascript because use|shave encinganyvisualinterruptions. ThDs,
removed someof thetechnology's bugs Web pages can ger trewinformation
anddeveloped workaroundsfor vari fron senersinstantlywithout having
to completelyreload.
BecauseJavascriptis a cross-platform For example,usersofan application
scriptinglanguage, Ajax applications wirh XMLHTlpRequest objectscould
requireno plus ins,unlikeMacromedia typein a centigrade amounrin onebox
0cr0ber2005