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. 

Head First Ajax is the ideal guide for experienced web developers comfortable with scripting -- particularly those who have completed the exercises in Head First JavaScript -- and for experienced programmers in Java, PHP, and C# who want to learn client-side programming.