Please Can Someone Explain Ajax?

[channonite]

I see it being mentioned all over the place. I have even seen a couple of nice polite Ajax error windows asking me if I want to wait, but I have no idea what, or indeed who Ajax is/are.

Thanks!

[Jordan]

Ajax stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, and it's used by browsers to communicate with a web server asynchronously (in the background) without interfering with the existing page you have already loaded. The shoutbox is a good example because you can see new posts in the shoutbox without having to reload the page. Automatic twitter updates is another good example, where new tweets automatically show up on the page without you having to reload the page. So, it allows you to send and receive data to the server without having to reload the page or submit a form.

The traditional method of submitting a web form is still used extensively since you still have to hit "Create Post" to create a new post or "Save Account Settings" to save your account settings which then sends you to another page.