While many people make the mistake of thinking that Ajax is a new technology, those who have studied it know that its foundation has existed for nearly a decade, and it was only through recent advances in technology that it has reached the popularity it enjoys today.

When the world wide web was first introduced, many people around the world saw its capabilities. They knew that it was far more than a temporary fad. They knew it was permanent, and they knew it would transform the way in which we do business, enjoy entertainment, and interact and communicate with friends and family.

While people were impressed with the potential of web based applications, they often complained about how slow they were in comparsion to desktop applications. Because the speed of these applications were dependent on the Internet, they were quite slow.

The Factors Which Changed The Web

Developers immediately saw these problems, and for a number of years, they struggled with solutions. They were well aware of the fact that the Internet needed to become much more dynamic and interactive. Some of the tools they came up with to solve these problems included plug-ins and frames.

However, the Internet still didn’t reach the potential they new it was capable. The one factor which changed this was the introduction of XMLHttpRequest, which was created by Microsoft for Internet Explorer 5.

XMLHttpRequest was powerful, because it gave JavaScript the ability to contact the web server without the need for the browser to show a new web page. This set the stage where the Internet could become highly fluid and much more dynamic.

Many browser developers immediately saw the capabilities of XMLHttpRequest, and they designed it within their own browsers. Some good examples of this include Mozilla, Opera, and Safari. Many developers have said that XMLHttpRequest single handedly transformed the web.

Applications of Ajax

The power of Ajax is fully realized in applications like Google Maps, where the user is given the ability to move around on a map that increases in size within the map window. While it can be argued that Google Maps fully showcases the power of Ajax, it was an essay written by Jesse James Garret that finally gave the name Ajax to this collection of techniques.

It was shortly after this time that Ajax took off like a rocket. Suddenly, developers everywhere became eager to use it for the design of their own applications.

Because of the rapid adoption of Ajax, all the evidence shows that it is far more than just a fad. This is a rapid advancement of the Internet that will allow it to change the way people see the web. Many developers have stated that they have never seen such a rapid adoption of a technology within such a short period of time.

Ajax promises to take the best attributes of desktop applications and utilize them over the web, making the Internet fast, dynamic, and interactive. It is these technologies which are expected to change the web.

Conclusion

While the Internet has largely changed the way we communicate and receive information, it was limited in its early years because of its inability to give web applications the features which were so prevalent in desktop applications. Until these problems were solved, the Internet faced a lot of barrier which limited its total capability. Because of Microsoft, these barriers were limited.

The company was able to come up with an object that was capable of solving many of the problems which had plagued web based development. Now it is only a matter of adopting Ajax and becoming more adept in its usage.

Because more developers are embracing Ajax each day, it is very likely that the web will be transformed for the better. There are direct correlations between the success of Ajax and the introduction of Web 2.0, which is also expected to transform the web. Only time will tell how these developments will play out, but all the evidence shows that they will be highly impressive.