Author: Joshua Eichorn  
Publisher: Prentice Hall, 2006
ISBN: 978-0132216357
Aimed at: Programmer managers
Rating: 3
Pros: Confronts issues of organisation of AJAX development
Cons: Dated approach to Javascript
Reviewed by: Mike James

This is a difficult book to categorise. Initially it deals with small scale practical problems in implementing AJAX applications such as the lack of browser consistency and the problem of providing server-side logic. The deeply practical approach dissolves fairly quickly and we end up considering higher level problems such as how the Ajax approach might affect your team, testing, debugging and so on. On the practical side it fails to communicate any of the deeper ideas of object-oriented Javascript, use of the DOM or any of the details of a modern approach to using Javascript in an AJAX application. However at the higher level it does make you think about the overall organisation of an AJAX-oriented application. When it comes to the server side of the equation but you can easily tell that it’s PHP that seems to be the preferred solution. There is almost as much PHP code as Javascript presented in the examples. The author may have decided that PHP is the solution to the server side, but no such hint is given as to what Javascript library is the best. We are treated to a comprehensive survey but at the end of the day it’s up to the reader to pick a solution. There are some very useful pages in this book but there is also a lot that you would skip or skim read.

<Reviewed in VSJ>