Rob Gonda

(October 7, 2005) - AJAX isn't a technology, or a language, and there's no recipe to implement it; it's just a combination of various components to achieve something you otherwise couldn't: asynchronous http requests. However, since early 2005, when Google and Flickr popularized the concept, its use has grown rapidly. The name AJAX is short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. It uses the JavaScript XMLHttpRequest function to create a tunnel from the client's browser to the server and transmit information back and forth without having to refresh the page. The data travels in XML format because it transmits complex data types over clear text. AJAX uses XHTML for the data presentation of the view layer, DOM, short for Document Object Model, which dynamically manipulates the presentation, XML for data exchange, and XMLHttpRequest as the exchange engine that ties every... (more)

AJAX: XMLHttpRequest Vs. iFrames

Should you use the old iFrame tricks or the new XMLHttpRequest? There is not better or worse when comparing these two techniques, but they are certainly different. While both of them allow you to communicate with the server in the background, you should choose the appropriate for your situation depending on a few questions: Do you want the back-forward buttons to work? Do you plan to perform more than one simultaneous request? Do you need cross-site calls? Do you need to monitor the status of your calls? I'm pretty sure there are more differences, and way around the ones I will m... (more)

Rob Gonda's Two-Part AJAX Special: Now In One Part

It's become very popular lately, even though it's not exactly new. It's been possible to use the concept behind AJAX since browsers introduced the XMLHttpRequest function in 1999. AJAX isn't a technology, or a language, and there's no recipe to implement it; it's just a combination of various components to achieve something you otherwise couldn't: asynchronous http requests. However, since early 2005, when Google and Flickr popularized the concept, its use has grown rapidly. The name AJAX is short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. It uses the JavaScript XMLHttpRequest function... (more)

Rob Gonda's AJAX Blog: "ajaxCFC update for DRWUtil.AddRows"

ajaxCFC update for DRWUtil.AddRowsRelated Categories: ajax, ajaxCFC, Coldfusion, JS/DHTML A recent message in the ajaxCFC group asked about the DRWUtil.addRows() function; the truth is that I had never used it. I include the utils library because there are other elements that I find useful, but I had never given the addRows a try. Enough said, since I include the file, I guess I need to support the built-in functionality, but the addRows out-of-the-box was accepting arrays and objects. I serialize the ColdFusion queries into a more complex object which was not recognized by the a... (more)

Web 2.0: Web Applications vs. Desktop Applications

Will web applications ever replace regular desktop applications? Will desktop applications adopt web paradigms? Are web applications "Web 2.0"?   The whole 2.0 thing is getting much abuse now; its hype/meaning ratio is inflating by the minute. Web 2.0 is really exposing functionality through APIs and allowing people to collaborate, much more than it is about Rich Internet Applications. The first impression when you ask anyone about Web applications is negative; they claim they will never use them. I certainly cannot see (yet) a Photoshop or Avid web application, but let's go back a... (more)