Happy birthday Ajax

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, more commonly called Ajax, turned five today. As SearchSOA.com reports, it was on Feb. 18, 2005 that user interface expert Jesse James Garrett first coined the term.

As the story goes, Garrett had developed a prototype Ajax application for a client. The application tested so well with users, and was radically different from the team’s previous approach, that Garrett was asked to pitch it to the company’s president.

Ajax combined a number of technologies that had already existed to connect server-side data to a client-side UI. This gave users the ability to manipulate data in near real-time. It reduced the need to refresh a page for a fresh set of data and ushered in a new era of Web application interactivity.

Read the full story of Ajax, including commentary from Garrett and other Ajax pioneers and practioners, on SearchSOA.com