Chapter 4. The Document Object Model:Web Page Forestry

I've really taken control of my DOM trees. A little pruning here, a bit of snipping there, and my web pages are more dynamic than ever.

Wanted: easy-to-update web pages. It's time to take things into your own hands, and start writing code that updates your web pages on the fly. Using the Document Object Model, your pages can take on new life, respond to users' actions, and help you ditch unnecessary page reloads forever. By the time you're done with this chapter, you'll be able to add, remove, and update content virtually anywhere on your web page. So turn the page, and let's take a stroll through the Webville Tree Farm.

OK, so here's the thing: I'm really enjoying getting my head around asynchronous programming... but all my friends are into fancy effects and flashy sites. Isn't that part of what makes Ajax apps so cool?

NetFlix has some nice popups, without requiring any page reloading.

Jenny, fledgling web programmer.

Flickr is a great Ajax app... very responsive, with a killer user interface.

Google Maps is another popular Ajaxdriven application.