Learning PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, and CSS, 2nd Edition

Using Frameworks for Ajax

Now that you know how to code your own Ajax routines, you might like to investigate some of the free frameworks that are available to make it even easier, and which offer many more advanced features. In particular, I would suggest you check out jQuery, which is probably the most commonly used framework.

You can download it (and get full documentation) from http://jquery.com, but do be aware that there’s an initial steep learning curve as you have to familiarize yourself with the $ function it provides, which is used extensively for accessing jQuery’s features. That said, once you understand how jQuery works, you’ll find it can make your web development much easier and quicker due to the large number of ready-made features it offers.

Now that you’ve learned how Ajax works in raw form, in the next chapter we’ll look at bringing CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) into our toolkit of web development technologies.