What Is AJAX?

AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. It mainly concerns itself with updating particular elements of a web page without reloading the entire webpage. Essentially, AJAX allows web pages to be updated asynchronously. Small portions of data are exchanged with the server behind the webpage, and that’s how AJAX achieves the job of asynchronous updates. 

Where AJAX is not incorporated into a webpage, the entire webpage will have to be reloaded if even a piece of content is supposed to be changed or updated. As you can imagine, this causes a lot of hassle and is certainly not the best option. 

AJAX - Make-Up

The AJAX makeup is based on internet standards. It uses a blend of XMLHttpRequest object, CSS, XML, and JavaScript/DOM. The combination of all these elements allows it to exchange data asynchronously, display/interact with the information, style the data, and transfer it seamlessly. 

AJAX - The Rise to Popularity 

Thanks to the aforementioned features and more, AJAX is quite a competent aspect of the PHP world. However, it only became popular in 2005 when Google decided to integrate Google Suggest with AJAX. By using Ajax, Google Suggest became a high-functioning experience for users. 

How AJAX Works

Every time you type something on that search bar on Google, AJAX is employed to make little updates with the list of suggestions that we see. In a world where there was no AJAX, Google would have to reload the entire page to make the smallest of updates. Following Google, a bunch of other websites adopted AJAX - to the point that it is a universal tenet to efficient web-browsing!

Learning AJAX

You can easily learn AJAX, and that’s probably the best thing about it. Experts suggest that the best way to learn AJAX and other JavaScript/markup languages is to invest in in-person or online classes; you can teach yourself with the help of video tutorials as well. In fact, mastering the AJAX technique and getting the skills needed to flourish can be as easy as watching a couple of videos on the web! Some great resources to aid you in your journey of learning AJAX are Udacity, jQuery, Code School, and Webucator. 

For people who already have some knowledge of JavaScript, XML, or HTML, learning AJAX will be a piece of cake. The reason being that AJAX is a blend of all these skills - if you can bring all of them together, you can easily master AJAX. So, instead of spending hours trying to learn a new skill, you will just have to polish your already existing skills. 

One of the biggest benefits of learning and implementing AJAX is that it opens a whole new window of opportunity for you! AJAX is obviously not a separate skill, but it is certainly a technique that tests the best of you for all skills. Having it in your skillset will definitely make you seem like the right candidate for a front-end development job. So, any time you spend learning AJAX will only bring you benefits.

Final Words

AJAX is a technique that shines a light on the best of your tech skills. Like mentioned earlier, it is truly a developer’s dream because not only is it easy to learn, but it also makes use of some of the very basic skills developers already have. 

Additionally, AJAX makes a crucial component of any webpage since it improves user experience, reduces technical hassles, and is generally a beneficial aspect to keep in mind when making edits to a webpage.