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Computing Canada, July 7, 2006, Vol. 32 No. 10
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Is AJAX coming to the enterprise?

AJAX is making inroads with consumer-based Web apps, but the programming technique has yet to replicate that success in the enterprise.
7/13/2006 10:11:00 AM By: Sarah Lysecki

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, or AJAX, allows the Web browser to communicate asynchronously with a server using Java and XML and update a browser page without the user having to hit the refresh button. AJAX has been popularized by Web apps such as Google Maps, which promotes a greater level of user interactivity than previous generations. The popularity of apps such as Google Maps, which are highly personal in nature, have caused experts such as Adam Bosworth, vice-president of engineering at Google Inc., to question where AJAX fits into the enterprise.

“The applications that are taking off today in AJAX aren't customer support applications per se,” Bosworth wrote in a June 1 posting titled, “AJAX reconsidered,” on his blog. “They are more personal applications like mail or maps or schedules which are often used daily.”

Some Canadian firms, however, are finding a place for AJAX in corporations. Scott Howlett, co-founder and principal of Toronto consulting firm iMason, which develops Internet-based apps in ASP.Net, said the primary use of Atlas (Microsoft's AJAX framework) and AJAX-based applications among his customers is for customer-facing applications.

“Our enterprise customers are using an AJAX approach for their internal Web-based applications,” said Howlett. “Customers are starting to use AJAX to see how they can make their intranet experience better.”

Page Navigation 1) Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
2) Building AJAX components
3) Create applications

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