Building efficient websites with AJAX
Breezy Browsing
![© broker, Fotolia © broker, Fotolia](/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/linux-magazine.com/issues/2008/91/breezy-browsing/fo_1024954_windpark_broker.png/430982-1-eng-US/fo_1024954_windpark_broker.png_medium.png)
© broker, Fotolia
Books were the original model for website design. Navigation was similar to flipping the pages. Thanks to AJAX, many state-of-the-art websites now behave like desktop applications.
The standards for an impressive Internet presentation have changed substantially since Tim Berners-Lee created the first web pages. Internet sites increasingly remind the surfer of interactive desktop applications rather than printed material. AJAX is a technology based on JavaScript that adds convenience, with pull-down menus, sortable tables, and interactive input pages. The main improvement is the absence of delays typically experienced while pages reloaded.
Long Way
Before rendering a website, the browser and web server go through a number of steps (Figure 1):
- The browser sends a page request to a web server.
- The server processes the request and serves up the HTML text and images. This might take a couple of seconds if the load is heavy. The network transmission speed decides how fast the content is delivered. The required time is still noticeable on fast intranets, however.
- Finally, the browser reads the response and displays the page. The same sequence is repeated for each image before the browser can render the final version of the page.
All told, these three steps typically take several seconds. In case of HTML pages without AJAX technology the steps are repeated for even the tiniest of changes.
In contrast to rich client applications, this considerably affects the user experience: Menus that drop down without a delay, point and click sorting in tables, or drag and drop are not easily implemented because of time-consuming page reloads. HTML pages that offer these kinds of features need to be autonomous, like local programs; that is, you should not need to rely on a server connection.
![](/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/linux-magazine.com/issues/2008/91/breezy-browsing/figure-1/430985-1-eng-US/Figure-1_large.png)
Removing Time-Consuming Requests
To improve the user experience, more and more web applications are starting to process user input directly browser-side and to do without time-consuming server requests.
Only two of the various techniques for browser-side data processing have achieved widespread success: JavaScript and Flash. Both are available on more than 90 percent of all computers. This means that web developers need not have any qualms about using them.
Other solutions, with the exception of the relatively widespread Java plugin, have been unable to achieve similar multi-platform success. Flash and JavaScript adopt completely different approaches.
Flash
The proprietary Flash plugin executes binary Flash applications in the browser. The plugin is embedded in the web page very much like a bitmap image, except that it offers the user an interactive interface. The Flash plugin has excellent graphics capabilities with virtually no restrictions on the developers' creativity. However, for lack of equivalent open source alternatives, there is virtually no alternative to the Adobe tools.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.