Enhance the user experience of your PHP website using AJAX with this practical tutorial featuring detailed case studies
Build a solid foundation for your next generation of web applications
Use better JavaScript code to enable powerful web features
Leverage the power of PHP and MySQL to create powerful back-end functionality and make it work in harmony with the smart AJAX client
Go through numerous case studies that demonstrate how to implement AJAX-enabled features in your site such as: real-time form validation, online chat, suggest & autocomplete, whiteboard, SVG realtime charting, whiteboard, web data grid, RSS reader, drag & dropAJAX 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.
In Detail
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. 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.
What you will learn from this book
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.
Who this book is written for
This book is for web developers willing to build better web applications. A basic knowledge of PHP, XML, JavaScript and MySQL, or a strong will to learn-as-you-type, is assumed.
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Author(s)
Cristian Darie
Cristian Darie is a software enginner with experience in a wide range of modern technologies, and the author of numerous technical books, including the popular 'Beginning E-Commerce' series. Having worked with computers since he was old enough to press the keyboard, he initially tasted programming success with a first prize in his first programming contest at the age of 12. From there, Cristian moved on to many other similar achievements, and now he is studying distributed application architectures for his PhD degree. He always loves hearing feedback about his books, so don't hesitate dropping a 'hello' message when you have a spare moment. Cristian can be contacted through his personal website at www.cristiandarie.ro.
Bogdan Brinzarea
Bogdan has a strong background in Computer Science holding a Master and Bachelor Degree at the Automatic Control and Computers Faculty of the Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania and also an Auditor diploma at the Computer Science department at Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, France.
His main interests cover a wide area from embedded programming, distributed and mobile computing and new web technologies. Currently, he is employed as an Alternative Channels Specialist at Banca Romaneasca, Member of National Bank of Greece where he is responsible for the Internet Banking project and coordinates other projects related to security applications and new technologies to be implemented in the banking area.
Filip Chereches-Tosa
Filip Chereches-Tosa is a web developer with a firm belief in the future of web-based software. He started his career at the age of 9, when he first got a Commodore 64 with tape-drive.
Back home in Romania, Filip runs a web development company named eXigo www.exigo.ro, which is actively involved in web-based application development and web design. He is currently a student at the University of Oradea - studying Computer Science - and also an active member of the Romanian PHP Community www.phpromania.net.
Mihai Bucica
Mihai Bucica started programming and competing in programming contests (winning many of them), all at age twelve.With a bachelor's degree in computer science from the Automatic Control and Computers Faculty of the Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania, Bucica works on building communication software with various electronic markets.
Even after working with a multitude of languages and technologies, Bucica's programming language of choice remains C++, and he loves the LGPL word. Mihai also co-authored Beginning PHP 5 and MySQL E-Commerce and he be contacted through his personal website, www.valentinbucica.ro.
