Ajax Design Patterns - O'Reilly's Latest Release

For Immediate Release
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Create Interactive Web Applications using Programming and 
Usability Patterns
O'Reilly Releases "Ajax Design Patterns"

Sebastopol, CA--"People have heard loud and clear that Ajax matters, and
equally, that Ajax must be done right," says Michael Mahemoff, author of
the new "Ajax Design Patterns" (O'Reilly, $44.99). "The fundamentals of
Ajax are actually fairly straightforward for anyone with a background in
web development," he adds. At the same time, he is quick to point out that
Ajax is a moving target. "Browsers are evolving quickly, developers are
doing more with the web than ever before, and companies like Google
continue to find new ways to coerce the web into doing amazing things no
one had ever foreseen."

Mahemoff's book is a reference for developers, designers, and managers who
want to learn how Ajax is being used in the real world.  According to
Mahemoff, he began work on the book after he studied a number of early
Ajax applications and published an embryonic set of patterns to his blog.
"I explained at the time that Ajax is no magic bullet, and that we need to
look at how to design effectively and not just use Ajax for the coolness
factor," Mahemoff recalls.  "The response was overwhelming and led to an
approach to crafting that initial seed into a book of Ajax patterns.

The patterns in the book fall into four categories:

-Foundational Technology patterns: overview the raw technologies required
 for Ajax development
-Programming patterns: Expose techniques developers have been discovering
 to ensure their Ajax applications are maintainable
-Functionality and Usability patterns: Describe the types of user
 interfaces used in Ajax applications, and the new types of functionality
 that Ajax makes possible
-Development patterns: Explain the processes being used to monitor, debug,
 and test Ajax applications

"Ajax Design Patterns" gives readers an understanding of what is possible
and what's not with Ajax, and shows them how Ajax is being used in the
real world. Technical discussions followed by examples bring readers up to
speed with core Ajax technologies, such as XMLHttpRequest, the DOM, and
JSON. Readers will also discover the patterns that developers are using to
produce high-quality Ajax architectures, streamline performance, and
improve usability.

Aside from observing the amazing rise in Ajax itself, to Mahemoff, it's
been fascinating to take a step back and look at how advanced enabling
tools and technologies have become. "I first got into patterns in 1997 and
the change is remarkable," he says. "First off, the notion of patterns is
widely accepted in the software industry, and almost everyone seems to
appreciate the need for collecting Ajax patterns. Moreover, it's so much
easier to study a broad cross-section of applications now, thanks to the
web and related technologies. Not only are web applications accessible at
the click of a link, but there are so many of them out there to be
studied. A single category, like 'Ajax word-processors' will usually have
a dozen examples to consider, leading to rich, broadly applicable,
patterns.

"Furthermore, the combination of blogs, wikis, and podcasts--all simple
but exceedingly powerful tools--means that information can be disseminated
so much faster than before," he continues. "While writing this book, I was
able to publish an idea on my blog or Ajaxian.com, and within a day, it
had been scrutinized by the community. Promising design ideas--such as the
incredible (at the time) use of auto-completion by Google Suggest's--rise
to prominence in a matter of hours. Indeed, the sharp rise of Ajax is a
perfect illustration of these mechanisms."


Additional Resources:

Chapter 10, "Browser-Server Dialogue," is available online at:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/ajaxdp/chapter/index.html

For more information about the book, including table of contents, index,
author bio, and samples, see:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/ajaxdp/

For a cover graphic in JPEG format, go to:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/ajaxdp/cover.html

Ajax Design Patterns
Michael Mahemoff
ISBN: 0-596-10180-5, 635 pages, $44.99 US, $58.99 CA
order@oreilly.com
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