The future of AJAX

[Tom S]

As a webmaster, have you been implementing AJAX into your websites?

That seems to be the future of the Web, what do you think about what it brings to the web pages?

[Twey]

Not really.

It's good where used properly, and with sufficient non-AJAX backup for those with older browsers. However, people have started using it "just because I can," often in places in which there's no need for it.

[mwinter]

It's good ... with sufficient non-AJAX backup for those with older browsers.

That's understating the case quite a bit. There are modern browsers that implement client-side scripting but don't provide XMLHttpRequest objects. There's obviously browsers and users with client-side scripting disabled or omitted to consider. There's also the issue of disabling XMLHttpRequest; if ActiveX is locked out by security settings in IE (quite possible in office and open access environments, as well as with security-conscious home users), it's not possible to instantiate COM objects.

The latter issue should be partially addressed with IE7, which, as I recall, will integrate the XMLHttpRequest object, thereby bypassing ActiveX. However, I seem to remember that the feature can still be disabled in the user's preferences, and that may currently be possible in other browsers, too.

However, people have started using it "just because I can," often in places in which there's no need for it.

Indeed.

Mike