Using the XMLHttpRequest Object

Summary

While Ajaxesque techniques have been used for many years, the recent adoption of the XMLHttpRequest object by modern browsers has ushered in a new era of developing rich Web applications. In this chapter, we established the basics of working with the heart of Ajax, the XMLHttpRequest object. At this point, you know the methods and properties of the XMLHttpRequest object, and we’ve shown you some simple examples of their use. As you can see, the object is pretty straightforward and hides much of its complexity from you. Combined with a healthy dose of JavaScript and some basic DOM manipulation, Ajax allows for a level of interactivity previously unmatched on the Web.

As mentioned in Chapter 1, with XMLHttpRequest you are no longer limited to complete page refreshes and synchronous conversations with your server. In the upcoming chapters, we’ll show you how to combine your existing expertise of server-side technologies with the unique capabilities of XMLHttpRequest to provide highly interactive Web applications.