Book Review:
Manning Publications' "Ajax in Action"
One of the latest Ajax-related books to hit the shelves is Manning Publications' addition - Ajax in Action.

Web users are getting tired of the traditional web experience. They get frustrated losing their scroll position; they get annoyed waiting for refresh; they struggle to reorient themselves on every new page. And the list goes on. With asynchronous JavaScript and XML, known as "Ajax," you can give them a better experience. Once users have experienced an Ajax interface, they hate to go back. Ajax is new way of thinking that can result in a flowing and intuitive interaction with the user.

I got my hands on a review copy (though the print copies are headed out today to your local book store), and thought I'd post a review on it. In the book they cover a gigantic amount of information (680 pages, to be exact), everything from what Ajax is and some of the key elements involved all the way out to working with MVC frameworks and XSLT. The writing style makes it a good, easy read, and there are plenty of illustrations to guide you along.

The code examples provided are in close proximity to the text that discusses them (often right in the same paragraph area) which helps prevent "page flipping programming" where steps are often missed and errors are introduced. They start off small(-ish), with some of the fundamentals, but it's not long before they jump headfirst in. I like that they devote an entire section to the MVC interaction as well. Its a hard enough concept for someone to learn wtithout something that tries to skimp on the details. And, thankfully, they include a handy section on Ajax security and how to work it into your app.

Overall, I have nothing but good things to say about this book. And, even better, you can either choose to pick up a print copy ($44.95 USD) from their site/a local retailer, or you can order the eBook version for only $22.50 USD. And in this day and age of cut and paste everything, who needs dead trees anyway...

Share your thoughts on "Manning Publications' "Ajax..." (0 comments)



<< Have a commment to share? Speak up now! >>


 All content copyright, 2005 AjaxDeveloper.org :: [email protected]