Powazek: Just a Thought: Ajax, Ajax Everywhere

Powazek: Just a Thought: Ajax, Ajax Everywhere

First the pendulum swings from rich client (everything on the client) to thin client (everyting on the server). Now we are swinging a back to the rich client. At work I coined the term "medium client" - hitting the server when you need to.

I have talked about Ajax before, and I like the idea since it gives you the ability to ONLY get the information you need based upon user action. Smaller packets across the net, smaller parts of the screen to update, in theory quicker pages for the user. I'm all about quicker pages, particularly if I am using them.

However I think this provides a richer experience for the user. I tis not simple from the creation aspect, but there is so much that can be done by just sending a little bit more info down to the cleint.

Of course the downside is overall performance can degrade since the server is probably handling a lot more traffic. Essentially what each request lacks in volume is made up for in number of requests. Implimentation of this kind of page requires make sure the server(s) can cope with the increased volume.