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'{{short description|Group of interrelated Web development techniques}} {{Redirect|AJAX||Ajax (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox programming language | name = AJAX | title = Asynchronous JavaScript and XML | released = March 1999 | influenced by = [[JavaScript]] and [[XML]] | File extensions = .js | File format = [[JavaScript]] }} '''Ajax''' (also '''AJAX''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|dʒ|æ|k|s}}; short for "[[asynchronous I/O|'''A'''synchronous]] [[JavaScript|'''J'''avaScript]] '''a'''nd [[XML|'''X'''ML]]" or "'''A'''synchronous '''Ja'''vaScript transfer ('''x'''-fer)"<ref name="garrett" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide/AJAX|title=Ajax - Web developer guides|website=[[MDN Web Docs]]|access-date=2018-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161512/https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide/AJAX|archive-date=28 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>) is a set of [[web development]] techniques that uses various web technologies on the [[client-side]] to create asynchronous [[web application]]s. With Ajax, web applications can send and retrieve data from a [[Web server|server]] asynchronously (in the background) without interfering with the display and behaviour of the existing page. By decoupling the [[data exchange|data interchange]] layer from the presentation layer, Ajax allows web pages and, by extension, web applications, to change content dynamically without the need to reload the entire page.<ref name="wrox">{{cite book | url=http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-303217.html | title=Beginning Ajax | access-date=24 June 2008 | publisher=wrox | date=March 2007 | first=Chris | last=Ullman | isbn=978-0-470-10675-4 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705101852/http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-303217.html | archive-date=5 July 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> In practice, modern implementations commonly utilize [[JSON]] instead of XML. Ajax is not a technology, but rather a programming concept. [[Hypertext Markup Language|HTML]] and [[Cascading Style Sheets|CSS]] can be used in combination to mark up and style information. The webpage can be modified by JavaScript to dynamically display—and allow the user to interact with the new information. The built-in [[XMLHttpRequest]] object is used to execute Ajax on webpages, allowing websites to load content onto the screen without refreshing the page. Ajax is not a new technology, nor is it a new language. Instead, it is existing technologies used in a new way. == History == In the early-to-mid 1990s, most Websites were based on complete HTML pages. Each user action required a complete new page to be loaded from the server. This process was inefficient, as reflected by the user experience: all page content disappeared, then the new page appeared. Each time the browser reloaded a page because of a partial change, all the content had to be re-sent, even though only some of the information had changed. This placed additional load on the server and made [[bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth]] a limiting factor in performance. In 1996, the [[HTML element#Frames|iframe]] tag was introduced by [[Internet Explorer]]; {{citation needed span|date=December 2023|reason=Unclear what is meant here - a source needed. Object element by itself doesn't load an HTML that is then rendered as a portion of the page like frames do, and there are other elements like img that are loaded asynchronously.|like the [[HTML element#Images and objects|object]] element,}} it can load a part of the web page asynchronously. In 1998, the Microsoft [[Outlook Web Access]] team developed the concept behind the [[XMLHttpRequest]] scripting object.<ref name="ALEXHOPMANN">{{cite web |url=http://www.alexhopmann.com/xmlhttp.htm |title=Article on the history of XMLHTTP by an original developer |publisher=Alexhopmann.com |date=2007-01-31 |access-date=2009-07-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623125327/http://www.alexhopmann.com/xmlhttp.htm |archive-date=23 June 2007}}</ref> It appeared as XMLHTTP in the second version of the [[MSXML]] library,<ref name="ALEXHOPMANN" /><ref name="MSDN1">{{cite web |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms759148(VS.85).aspx |title=Specification of the IXMLHTTPRequest interface from the Microsoft Developer Network |publisher=Msdn.microsoft.com |access-date=2009-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160526164820/https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms759148(VS.85).aspx |archive-date=26 May 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> which shipped with [[Internet Explorer 5.0]] in March 1999.<ref name="Dutta">{{cite web |url=http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/01/23/516393.aspx |title=Native XMLHTTPRequest object |access-date=2006-11-30 |last=Dutta |first=Sunava |date=2006-01-23 |work=IEBlog |publisher=Microsoft |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306164701/http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/01/23/516393.aspx |archive-date=6 March 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> The functionality of the Windows XMLHTTP [[ActiveX]] control in IE 5 was later implemented by [[Firefox|Mozilla Firefox]], [[Safari (web browser)|Safari]], [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]], [[Google Chrome]], and other browsers as the XMLHttpRequest JavaScript object.<ref name="apple">{{cite web | url=https://developer.apple.com/internet/webcontent/xmlhttpreq.html | title=Dynamic HTML and XML: The XMLHttpRequest Object | publisher=Apple Inc. | access-date=25 June 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509103519/http://developer.apple.com/internet/webcontent/xmlhttpreq.html | archive-date=9 May 2008 | url-status=live }}</ref> Microsoft adopted the native XMLHttpRequest model as of [[Internet Explorer 7]]. The ActiveX version is still supported in Internet Explorer, but not in [[Microsoft Edge]]. The utility of these background [[HTTP]] requests and asynchronous Web technologies remained fairly obscure until it started appearing in large scale online applications such as Outlook Web Access (2000)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hopmann|first=Alex|title=Story of XMLHTTP|url=http://www.alexhopmann.com/story-of-xmlhttp/|work=Alex Hopmann’s Blog|access-date=17 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330150027/http://www.alexhopmann.com/story-of-xmlhttp/|archive-date=30 March 2010}}</ref> and [[Oddpost]] (2002).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tynan |first1=Dan |title=The 16 Greatest Moments in Web History |url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/the-16-greatest-moments-in-web-history/185338 |website=Entrepreneur |language=en |date=1 October 2007}}</ref> [[Google]] made a wide deployment of standards-compliant, [[cross browser]] Ajax with [[Gmail]] (2004) and [[Google Maps]] (2005).<ref name="xhr-history">{{cite web | url=http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/ajaxhistory | title=A Brief History of Ajax | publisher=Aaron Swartz | date=22 December 2005 | access-date=4 August 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603063722/http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/ajaxhistory | archive-date=3 June 2010 | url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2004 [[Kayak.com]]'s public beta release was among the first large-scale e-commerce uses of what their developers at that time called "the xml http thing".<ref>{{Cite web|last=English|first=Paul|title=Kayak User Interface|url=http://kayaklabs.blogspot.com/2006/04/kayak-user-interface.html|work=Official Kayak.com Technoblog|date=12 April 2006|access-date=22 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523000633/http://kayaklabs.blogspot.com/2006/04/kayak-user-interface.html|archive-date=23 May 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> This increased interest in Ajax among web program developers. The term ''AJAX'' was publicly used on 18 February 2005 by [[Jesse James Garrett]] in an article titled ''Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications'', based on techniques used on Google pages.<ref name="garrett">{{cite web | url=http://adaptivepath.org/ideas/ajax-new-approach-web-applications/ | title=Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications | publisher=AdaptivePath.com | author=Jesse James Garrett | date=18 February 2005 | access-date=19 June 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910072359/http://adaptivepath.org/ideas/ajax-new-approach-web-applications/ | archive-date=10 September 2015 | url-status=live }}</ref> On 5 April 2006, the [[World Wide Web Consortium]] (W3C) released the first draft specification for the XMLHttpRequest object in an attempt to create an official [[Web standard]].<ref name="xhr-standard">{{cite web | url=http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/ | title=The XMLHttpRequest Object | publisher=World Wide Web Consortium | date=5 April 2006 | access-date=25 June 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516060525/http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/ | archive-date=16 May 2008 | url-status= live | last1=van Kesteren | first1=Anne | last2=Jackson | first2=Dean | website=W3.org}}</ref> The latest draft of the XMLHttpRequest object was published on 6 October 2016,<ref>{{cite web | last1=Kesteren | first1=Anne | last2=Aubourg | first2=Julian | last3=Song | first3=Jungkee | last4=Steen | first4=Hallvord R. M. | title=XMLHttpRequest Level 1 | url=https://www.w3.org/TR/2016/NOTE-XMLHttpRequest-20161006/ | website=W3.org | publisher=W3C | access-date=2019-02-19 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713225915/https://www.w3.org/TR/2016/NOTE-XMLHttpRequest-20161006/ | archive-date=13 July 2017 | url-status=live }}</ref> and the XMLHttpRequest specification is now a [[living document|living standard]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://xhr.spec.whatwg.org/|title=XMLHttpRequest Standard|website=xhr.spec.whatwg.org|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref> == Technologies == [[File:Ajax-vergleich-en.svg|thumb|right|400px|The conventional model for a [[Web Application]] versus an application using Ajax]] The term ''Ajax'' has come to represent a broad group of Web technologies that can be used to implement a Web application that communicates with a server in the background, without interfering with the current state of the page. In the article that coined the term Ajax,<ref name="garrett" /><ref name="wrox" /> Jesse James Garrett explained that the following technologies are incorporated: * [[HTML]] (or [[XHTML]]) and [[CSS]] for presentation * The [[Document Object Model]] (DOM) for dynamic display of and interaction with data * [[JSON]] or [[XML]] for the interchange of data, and [[XSLT]] for XML manipulation * The [[XMLHttpRequest]] object for asynchronous communication * [[JavaScript]] to bring these technologies together Since then, however, there have been a number of developments in the technologies used in an Ajax application, and in the definition of the term Ajax itself. XML is no longer required for data interchange and, therefore, XSLT is no longer required for the manipulation of data. [[JSON|JavaScript Object Notation]] (JSON) is often used as an alternative format for data interchange,<ref name="tapestry">{{cite web | url=http://tapestry.apache.org/tapestry4.1/ajax/json.html | title=JavaScript Object Notation | publisher=Apache.org | access-date=4 July 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616113121/http://tapestry.apache.org/tapestry4.1/ajax/json.html | archive-date=16 June 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> although other formats such as preformatted HTML or plain text can also be used.<ref name="devx-json">{{cite web | url=http://www.devx.com/Webdev/Article/32651 | title=Speed Up Your Ajax-based Apps with JSON | publisher=DevX.com | access-date=4 July 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704134131/http://www.devx.com/Webdev/Article/32651 | archive-date=4 July 2008 | url-status=dead}}</ref> A variety of popular JavaScript libraries, including [[JQuery]], include abstractions to assist in executing Ajax requests. == Examples == === JavaScript example === An example of a simple Ajax request using the [[GET (HTTP)|GET]] method, written in [[JavaScript]]. get-ajax-data.js: <syntaxhighlight lang="JavaScript"> // This is the client-side script. // Initialize the HTTP request. let xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); // define the request xhr.open('GET', 'send-ajax-data.php'); // Track the state changes of the request. xhr.onreadystatechange = function () { const DONE = 4; // readyState 4 means the request is done. const OK = 200; // status 200 is a successful return. if (xhr.readyState === DONE) { if (xhr.status === OK) { console.log(xhr.responseText); // 'This is the output.' } else { console.log('Error: ' + xhr.status); // An error occurred during the request. } } }; // Send the request to send-ajax-data.php xhr.send(null); </syntaxhighlight> send-ajax-data.php: <syntaxhighlight lang="php"> <?php // This is the server-side script. // Set the content type. header('Content-Type: text/plain'); // Send the data back. echo "This is the output."; ?> </syntaxhighlight> === Fetch example === Fetch is a native JavaScript API.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fetch API - Web APIs |url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Fetch_API#Browser_compatibility |website=MDN |access-date=30 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529085752/https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Fetch_API#Browser_compatibility |archive-date=29 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to [https://developers.google.com/web/ilt/pwa/working-with-the-fetch-api Google Developers Documentation], "Fetch makes it easier to make web requests and handle responses than with the older XMLHttpRequest." <syntaxhighlight lang="javascript"> fetch('send-ajax-data.php') .then(data => console.log(data)) .catch (error => console.log('Error:' + error)); </syntaxhighlight> ====ES7 async/await example==== <syntaxhighlight lang="javascript"> async function doAjax1() { try { const res = await fetch('send-ajax-data.php'); const data = await res.text(); console.log(data); } catch (error) { console.log('Error:' + error); } } doAjax1(); </syntaxhighlight> Fetch relies on JavaScript [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Promise promises]. The <code>fetch</code> specification differs from <code>Ajax</code> in the following significant ways: * The Promise returned from <code>fetch()</code> '''won't reject on HTTP error status''' even if the response is an HTTP 404 or 500. Instead, as soon as the server responds with headers, the Promise will resolve normally (with the <code>ok</code> property of the response set to false if the response isn't in the range 200–299), and it will only reject on network failure or if anything prevented the request from completing. * <code>fetch()</code> '''won't send cross-origin cookies''' unless you set the ''credentials'' init option. (Since April 2018. The spec changed the default credentials policy to <code>same-origin</code>. Firefox changed since 61.0b13.) == Benefits == Ajax offers several benefits that can significantly enhance web application performance and user experience. By reducing server traffic and improving speed, Ajax plays a crucial role in modern web development. One key advantage of Ajax is its capacity to render web applications without requiring data retrieval, resulting in reduced server traffic. This optimization minimizes response times on both the server and client sides, eliminating the need for users to endure loading screens.<ref name="reduce-traffic">{{cite web | url=https://www.mageplaza.com/blog/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-ajax.html | title=What is AJAX? Advantages & Disadvantages of Ajax? | publisher=magaplaza | access-date=6 October 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006202615/https://www.mageplaza.com/blog/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-ajax.html | archive-date=6 October 2023 | url-status=dead}}</ref> Furthermore, Ajax facilitates asynchronous processing by simplifying the utilization of XmlHttpRequest, which enables efficient handling of requests for asynchronous data retrieval. Additionally, the dynamic loading of content enhances the application's performance significantly.<ref name="asynchronous">{{cite web | url=https://blog.potenzaglobalsolutions.com/ajax-advantages-and-disadvantages/ | title=What is AJAX? Advantages & Disadvantages of AjaxAdvantages And Disadvantages Of AJAX – You Know About Them | publisher=POTENZA | access-date=6 October 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006203258/https://blog.potenzaglobalsolutions.com/ajax-advantages-and-disadvantages/ | archive-date=6 October 2023 | url-status=dead}}</ref> Besides, Ajax enjoys broad support across all major web browsers, including Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 5 and above, Mozilla Firefox versions 1.0 and beyond, Opera versions 7.6 and above, and Apple Safari versions 1.2 and higher.<ref name="support-browser">{{cite web | url=https://yovak.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-ajax/ | title=Top 5+ Advantages and Disadvantages of AJAX | publisher=POTENZA | access-date=6 October 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006203950/https://yovak.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-ajax/ | archive-date=6 October 2023 | url-status=dead}}</ref> == See also == {{col div|colwidth=30em}} * [[ActionScript]] * [[Comet (programming)]] (also known as Reverse Ajax) * [[Google Instant]] * [[HTTP/2]] * [[List of Ajax frameworks]] * [[Node.js]] * [[Remote scripting]] * [[Rich web application]] * [[WebSocket]] * [[HTML5]] *[[Web framework]] *[[JavaScript library]] {{colend}} == References == {{Reflist|30em}} == External links == <!-- =================== {{No more links}} ============================ | PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS IN ADDING MORE LINKS TO THIS ARTICLE. Wikipedia | | is not a collection of links nor should it be used for advertising. | | Excessive or inappropriate links WILL BE DELETED. | | See [[Wikipedia:External links]] & [[Wikipedia:Spam]] for details. | | If there are already plentiful links, please propose additions or | | replacements on this article's discussion page, or submit your link | | to the relevant category at the Open Directory Project (dmoz.org) | | and link back to that category using the {{dmoz}} template. | ======================= {{No more links}} ========================== --> {{Commons category|AJAX (programming)}} {{wikibooks|AJAX}} * [https://scholar.google.fr/scholar?q=Ajax:+A+New+Approach+to+Web+applications&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart] Ajax: A New Approach to Web applications - Article that coined the Ajax term and Q&A * {{curlie|Computers/Programming/Languages/JavaScript/AJAX}} * [http://www.xul.fr/en-xml-ajax.html Ajax Tutorial] with GET, POST, text and XML examples. {{Web interfaces}} {{JavaScript}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ajax (Programming)}} [[Category:Ajax (programming)| ]] [[Category:Cloud standards]] [[Category:Inter-process communication]] [[Category:Web 2.0 neologisms]] [[Category:Web development]] [[Category:Articles with example JavaScript code]] [[Category:Articles with example PHP code]]'