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Ajax Sucks Most of the Time

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the foaming-cleansers dept.

Vo0k writes "It seems that everyone is excited with what AJAX promises, and only few look at what it breaks as well. The article at Usability Views offers a critical view at the new Microsoft technology, pointing out some problems it creates, like breaking bookmarking, making the 'back' button useless, problems with printing, accessiblity and more. The single-sided view from the article provides a good counter-balance for all the craze."

6 of 510 comments (clear)

  1. Re:as in all new directions... by CaymanIslandCarpedie · · Score: 5, Informative

    It is worth noting this statement at the bottom of the page.

    This is a spoof article. Please compare it with the original and you will see how little it has been changed.

    That said some of the points are valid, but the article was basically showing how those same things were valid at one point for using frames as well.

    --
    "reality has a well-known liberal bias" - Steven Colbert
  2. Umm... Its a SPOOF by dsginter · · Score: 5, Informative

    Read the bottom of the page. The article is a spoof.

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    More
  3. Re:Jokes often become "common knowledge" by killercoder · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ummmmm, I hate to do this - god I hate to do this, but I'm actually going to support MS on this one.

    The paradigm of Ajax: "The transfer of XML to a web page in the background so that javascript can load data/initiate actions without loading a new page" was in fact a Microsoft innovation. They shipped it with Internet Explorer 4 and the first packaged MSXML controls.

    I was writing applications of this type over 7 years ago targeted at Internet Explorer 4. The latest incarnation of AJAX still uses the MSXML parser on IE Browsers, but extends the support to FireFox and Netscape variants.

    Please note, Microsoft did not coin the term AJAX, but they did do it first.

    I know I'm going to hell for this.

  4. Re:Microsoft? by amliebsch · · Score: 5, Informative
    And it most certainly is NOT and NEVER WAS a Microsoft technology. Microsoft has nothing to do with the new widespread adoption of AJAX. This comment in the article really really bothers me. Microsoft deserves absolutely no credit for things they had nothing to do with.

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Microsoft invent XMLHttpRequest? In which case, most AJAX, which uses XMLHttpRequest, is in fact built on Microsoft technology, and they deserve credit for having a played key role.

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    If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
  5. Re:Microsoft? by clear_thought_05 · · Score: 5, Informative
    You are correct. It was first Microsoft's idea.

    Microsoft first implemented the XMLHttpRequest object in Internet Explorer 5 for Windows as an ActiveX object. Engineers on the Mozilla project implemented a compatible native version for Mozilla 1.0 (and Netscape 7). Apple has done the same starting with Safari 1.2.


    http://developer.apple.com/internet/webcontent/xml httpreq.html
  6. The wiki is wrong - history lesson by brunes69 · · Score: 5, Informative

    AJAX relies on the XMLHttpRequest object to do anything. Without it, there is no AJAX (you could say it puts the A in AJAX). Microsoft invented this object, it has shipped with the MSXML COM object for a long time. They first used it in Outlook Web Access in the late 90s.

    AJAX only started to get popular in the media after Adaptive Path coined a stupid buzzword for it, but IE-specific developers had been using it for years. Adaptive Path just stumbled upon it being more sueful because Firefox started also shipping an XMLHttpRequest object.

    But Microsoft *did* create it, so it is totally accurate to call it a "Microsoft Technology". Just like SMB networking is a "Microsoft technology", even though there is Samba, and .Net is a "Microsoft Technology", even though there is Mono.