Rich Internet Application user interfaces are the new competitive areas of focus on the competitive landscape and Microsoft's new "Silverlight" looks like a formidable player. It lets Web developers and designers create "rich, engaging user experiences with 2-D graphics, animation, images, media, and video," to use Microsoft's own description. Silverlight competes in this arena with Adobe Flash and Flex, with OpenLaszlo and Curl, and with a variety of AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) frameworks.
Everything you ever wanted to know about AJAX but were afraid to ask...
This aims to be the simplest possible AJAX example, using only static HTML files. Examples can be tried on the website, or downloaded and run locally. First, there is a (short) explanation on the DOM, then on the XML HTTP Request Object and finally the two are combined to make AJAX. A more useful example with a PHP-driven backend is also available.
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