Chapter 7: Using Server-Side Ajax Frameworks

In This Chapter

• Using the Sajax framework

• Using the Xajax framework

• Using the LibAjax framework

• Using the Direct Web Remoting framework

• Using the Ajax Tags framework

• Using the SWATO framework

• Working with Ajax and Ruby on Rails

Besides the client-side Ajax frameworks you’ve seen in the previous two chapters, there are a number of server-side Ajax frameworks as well, and this chapter is about them.

Server-side Ajax frameworks make life easier for you by helping with both the server-side programming and the client-side programming of an Ajax application. They can generate the JavaScript you’ll need in the browser automatically. For example, all you need to do is write your server-side code-the framework does the rest.

Server-side Ajax frameworks are available in many different languages. Perhaps the most popular is the server-side scripting language PHP, so this chapter starts with a discussion of PHP-based server-side frameworks. You’ll also see Java-based server-side frameworks as well as Ruby on Rails frameworks in this chapter.