AJAX and PHP: Building Responsive Web Applications is the most
practical and efficient resource a reader can get to enter the
exciting world of AJAX. This book will teach you how to create
faster, lighter, better web applications by using the AJAX
ingredients technologies to their full potential. Assuming a basic
knowledge of PHP, XML, JavaScript and MySQL, this book will help you
understand how the heart of AJAX beats and how the constituent
technologies work together. This book is written web developers with
a basic knowledge of PHP, XML, JavaScript and MySQL. After teaching
the foundations, the book will walk you through numerous real-world
case studies covering tasks you'll be likely to need for your own
applications: * Server-enabled form-validation page * Online chat
collaboration tool * Customized type-ahead text entry solution *
Real-time charting using SVG * Database-enabled, editable and customizable data grid * RSS aggregator application * A server-managed sortable list with drag&drop support using the
script.aculo.us JavaScript toolkit The appendices guide you through installing your working environment, using powerful tools that enable debugging, improving, and profiling your code, working with XSLT and XPath. Chapter 1: AJAX and The Future Of Web Applications is an initial incursion into the world of AJAX and the vast possibilities it opens up for web developers and companies, to offer a better experience to their users. In this chapter you'll also build your first AJAX-enabled web page, which will give you a first look of the component technologies. Chapter 2: Client-Side Techniques with Smarter JavaScript will guide you through the technologies you'll use to build AJAX web clients, using JavaScript, DOM, the XMLHttpRequest object, and XML. While not being a complete tutorial for these
technologies, you'll be taken to the right track of using them together to build a solid foundation for your future applications. Chapter 3: Server-Side Techniques with PHP and MySQL completes the theory foundation by presenting how to create smart servers to
interact with your AJAX client. You'll learn various techniques for implementing common tasks, including handling security and error handling problems. Chapter 4: AJAX Form Validation guides you through creating a responsive, modern form with real-time validation based on server data. Chapter 5: AJAX Chat presents a simple online chat that works exclusively using AJAX code, without Java applets, Flash code, or other specialized library, as most chat applications work these days. Chapter 6: AJAX Suggest and Autocomplete builds a Google-suggest like feature, that helps you find PHP functions, and
forward you to the official help page for the chosen function. Chapter 7: SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is a text-based graphics language that can be used to draw shapes and text. (SVG is supported natively by Firefox 1.5, and requires a SVG plugin with other browsers). In this case study you learn how to implement a realtime charting solution with AJAX and SVG. Chapter 8: AJAX Grid teaches you how to build powerful updatable data grid. You'll learn how to parse XML documents using XSLT to generate the looks of your grid. Chapter 9: AJAX RSS Reader uses the SimpleXML PHP library, XML and XSLT, to build a simple RSS aggregator. Chapter 10: AJAX Drag and Drop is a demonstration of using the script.aculo.us framework to build a simple list of elements with drag&drop functionality. Appendix A: Configuring Your Working Environment teaches you how to install and configure the required software: Apache, PHP, MySQL, phpMyAdmin.