Ajax Training (4 days)

Ajax Training Overview

In this Ajax training course, students learn to make calls to the server with JavaScript and to manipulate XML content returned from the server. Ajax opens the door to creating sophisticated web-based applications with much more of the logic (and therefore code) is handled on the client. While Ajax allows for more dynamic and responsive applications, it changes the traditional role of JavaScript dramatically and forces developers to rethink how they write and manage JavaScript code. After taking this Ajax training course, students will be able to create sophisticated Ajax-based applications in an efficient and modular way. For those new to CSS, XML, XSLT and/or JavaScript, this Ajax training course can be customized to include accelerated introductions to those technologies.

Ajax Training Course Goals

• Learn how Ajax works.
• Learn to write cross-browser Ajax code.
• Learn to use Ajax to make a call to the server without a page refresh.
• Learn to modify content blocks on a page without refreshing the whole page.
• Learn to use server-side form validation with Ajax.
• Learn to move elements around the page with Dynamic HTML.
• Learn to show and hide elements.
• Learn to manipulate XML documents with JavaScript using the DOM.
• Learn to manipulate XML documents with JavaScript using XSLT.
• Learn to program in JavaScript using Object-Oriented techniques.
• Learn to work with various JavaScript/Ajax libraries, such as Prototype, Scriptaculous, and Sarissa.

Ajax Training Course Prerequisites

Experience in the following areas is required:

• HTML
• JavaScript
• CSS

Experience in the following areas would be beneficial.

• XSLT
• Some server-side programming language, such as ColdFusion, PHP, ASP.NET or JSP.

Ajax Training Course Outline

1. Ajax Basics
   1. The Purpose of Ajax
      1. Traditional Web Application
      2. An Ajax Web Application
   2. The XMLHttpRequest Object
      1. Creating an XMLHttpRequest Object
      2. Using an XMLHttpRequest Object
      3. Handling the Response
   3. Introducing the Class Project
   4. Conclusion
2. The HTML Document Object Model
   1. Accessing Nodes
      1. Accessing Element Nodes
      2. Accessing Attribute Nodes
      3. getAttribute
      4. attributes[]
      5. Accessing Nodes by Type, Name or Value
      6. Accessing Nodes by Class Name
   2. Removing Nodes from the DOM
      1. DOM Differences: The Whitespace Problem
   3. Creating New Nodes
   4. Conclusion
3. XML Basics
   1. What is XML?
   2. XML Benefits
      1. XML Holds Data, Nothing More
      2. XML Separates Structure from Formatting
      3. XML Promotes Data Sharing
      4. XML is Human-Readable
      5. XML is Free
   3. XML in Practice
      1. Content Management
      2. Web Services
      3. RDF / RSS Feeds
   4. XML Documents
      1. The Prolog
      2. Elements
      3. Attributes
      4. CDATA
      5. White Space
      6. XML Syntax Rules
      7. Special Characters
   5. Creating a Simple XML File
   6. Conclusion
4. XML and Ajax
   1. Creating a DOM Document with JavaScript
   2. Accessing, Creating and Modifying XML Nodes
      1. Creating an AddChild() Function
   3. Receiving XML Responses
   4. Passing XML to the Server
   5. Conclusion
5. OO JavaScript and Refactoring Ajax
   1. Illustrating the Problem
   2. Object-Oriented JavaScript
      1. JavaScript Classes
      2. Prototypes
      3. Extending Built-in Objects
   3. Refactoring the Ajax Request Code
   4. Conclusion
6. JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)
   1. Object Literals
      1. Arrays
      2. Objects
      3. Arrays in Objects
      4. Objects in Arrays
   2. JSON
      1. JSON Syntax
      2. JSON Parsers
      3. JSON Advantages and Disadvantages
   3. Conclusion
7. XSLT Transformations with JavaScript
   1. XSLT
      1. Basic XSLT
   2. XSLT in the Browser
      1. XSLT in Internet Explorer
      2. XSLT in Mozilla
   3. Sarissa
      1. XSLT in Ajax Applications
      2. Advantages and Disadvantages of XSLT in Ajax Applications
   4. Conclusion
8. Ajax Examples
   1. Form Validation
      1. The Login Form
      2. The Registration Form
   2. Authentication and Session Management
      1. Managing the Session
   3. Navigating Through Records
      1. Avoiding Conflicting HTTP Requests
      2. Building the Table
      3. Navigating with the Arrow Buttons
      4. Navigating with the Dropdown Menu
      5. Navigating with the Arrow Keys
   4. "Bookmarking" Pages
   5. Ajax and Autosuggest
   6. Conclusion

Ajax Training Course Materials

Each student will receive a comprehensive set of materials, including course notes and all the programming examples.

Ajax Training Technical Requirements

Please click on the server-side technology you would like to use in class to find the technical requirements, class files, and setup instructions:

Please note that if you use a Macintosh for this class, Webucator will not be able to provide setup support.

1. ASP Classic
2. PHP
3. ColdFusion
4. JSP