ASP.NET AJAX Programmers Reference
with ASP.NET 2.0 or ASP.NET 3.5
Chapter One
AJAX Technologies
Traditional Web pages use server-side technologies and resources to operate and deliver their
features and services to end users. These Web pages require end users to perform full-page
postbacks to the server, where these pages can run the required server-side code to deliver the
requested service or feature. In other words, these Web pages use the click-and-wait, user-unfriendly
interaction pattern, which is characterized by waiting periods that disrupt user
workflow and degrade the user experience. This click-and-wait user interaction pattern is what
makes the traditional Web applications act and feel very different from their desktop counterparts.
Asynchronous JavaScript And XML (abbreviated AJAX) is a popular Web application development
approach that uses client-side technologies such as HTML, XHTML, CSS, DOM, XML, XSLT,
Javascript, and asynchronous client-callback techniques such as XMLHttp requests and hidden-frame
techniques to develop ... read full excerpt from ASP.NET AJAX Programmer's Reference: with ASP.NET 2.0 or ASP.NET 3.5 ebook