AJAX Web Hosting- AJAX is an acronym that refers to Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. AJAX frameworks are used in AJAX development, which results in faster dynamic websites. This article explains the basics of AJAX Web Hosting and benefits of AJAX hosting.

AJAX Basics

The use of the AJAX techniques allows web page updates to be asynchronous and made without having to update the entire page. This is different than "classic" web pages, which must be entirely reloaded if any change is made. So AJAX has the potential to create a better experience for the website visitor. AJAX is used in the applications Google Maps, YouTube, and Gmail. Google Suggest, the app which returns suggested searches when a user begins typing in Google's search box, was one of the key factors in popularizing AJAX.

There are a number of different AJAX frameworks that enable server-side or client side AJAX functions, allow for the use of AJAX, and allow for the use of AJAX within different server platforms. For example, ASP.NET AJAX (which was formerly called Microsoft Atlas) works with the Windows .NET platform.

The various AJAX frameworks use an array of programming languages. These include C++, Java, JavaScript, .NET, PHP, Python, and Ruby on Rails. Java, JavaScript, and PHP each have a variety of associated frameworks with different purposes.

AJAX webhosting requires the use of HTML or XHTML and CSS for presentation, JavaScript (which processes locally) and DOM (Document Object Model), which accesses data, and the XMLHttpRequest object to process data asynchronously. Other languages and technologies are used optionally.

The use of AJAX can significantly reduce bandwidth usage and provide programmers with added flexibility in site development. On the downside, they dynamically-changed page may not properly respond to the 'Back' function; i.e., it may not go back the same way it went forward, bookmarking a page may not capture the exact state of the page that the user is seeking to recollect, and web analytics may be less useful because more than simple page views is going on. In addition, because different browsers implement JavaScript differently, testing of the page in multiple browsers is crucial.

AJAX web hosting is not always easy to locate. First of all, much of what is offered as "AJAX Web Hosting" is actually restricted to ASP.NET AJAX web hosting. For example, AQUEST Hosting states that ASP.NET AJAX is installed on all of its hosting servers and it's listed in the feature line up as "ASP.Net AJAX v. 1.0." Second, AJAX may be available, even though it isn't listed in the feature list. A2 Hosting, which states on a separate page that AJAX is included in all of its "shared, reseller, VPS, and dedicated website hosting packages," does not list AJAX in its feature lists. This makes it seem important to ask if you're interested in AJAX, rather than assume that if you don't see it, it isn't offered.

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