New internet model quietly growing roots
Running a quick last scan of the Blogdex I’ve found yet another superb blog written by Jason Kottke that describes the internet in it’s current status. The original blog that sparked my interest led to an article discussing a new merging of technologies that will someday soon make the internet much better called Ajax.
Ajax is not a new language or Apache module, but it’s more like a new way of eliminating calls to your webserver by using an XMLHttpRequest object available in JavaScript. Using this object along with some good planning, some XML/CSS, and a bit more good planning one can roll out a very fast, very dynamic web application that makes the user experience better for everyone. Examples of people already using Ajax include Google Maps, Google Suggest, Flickr, and Gmail.
The one thing that makes the Ajax model of web development different and much better than our current development model is the little known XMLHttpRequest object in JavaScript. Put simply, there are client-side languages and there are server-side languages. Once a user opens up a web browser and goes to a URL, they then pull down information on a web server. That information remains on the client side and then there are some dynamic capabilities that take place on the client side like image rollovers and form validation. However, in our traditional model when a user wants to go to another page or retrieve some additional information we go back to the internet and wait for the results. This is a flaw in the current internet model that until recently was not fixable.
Now with the use of streamlined XML/CSS front-end code that is supported well by modern browsers we are allowed to make sites much smaller in download size. And, with the aforementioned JavaScript object the developer can create a psuedo-connection with the web server that is technically a client-side process. This means that the dynamic creation of content on the user-side can be facilitated with many less trips to the internet for more information.
This is the closest that we’ve been able to come to a seamless internet. An internet on your desktop so to speak. An internet in a box. At your home or office. All that information constantly updated with no downloading times. The future of the internet looks to be very cool indeed.
April 30th, 2005 at 8:54 am
[...] nd more into photography lately and Flickr has done an absolutely beautiful job with their Ajax-based web aplication. I’m normally one who likes to keep e [...]