Ajax Abuse Todcon2008

AJAX Abuse The when and why to use JavaScript.

Definitions: AJAX, DOM Scripting, Web Application
What is AJAX?
What is DOM Scripting?
Web page or application?

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX)
Used for creating interactive web applications
Uses XMLHttpRequest or Remote Scripting to get ‘data’ not just XML
Cross-platform , no plug-ins required, speeds things up , makes your apps more ‘usable’
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX

Document Object Model Scripting (DOM Scripting)
Programmatically accessing the Document Object Model
Uses a scripting language and valid markup
Is browser independent
Degrades gracefully
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOM_scripting

Web Application and Web Page
Web Applications are reliant on the Web Browser to render the application executable.
Web Applications have read/write access to data
Web Page is a ‘static’ presentation of data

Symptoms of abuse: typical
Application solves a problem
Attractive design
User interface is smart and sexy
It takes around 1 min to load all the JavaScript, rendered HTML jumps around, and search engines can’t find relevant information

Symptoms of abuse that may result in app death
Features present because they can be there
Problem not clearly defined
Entire application is JavaScript
Browser support limited to latest browsers and high resolution

Application design decisions guided by technology over desired outcomes

Basics of a web application

Basic Web App

Basic Web App: Ajax

What you can do with AJAX
Replace the server side interactions that would normally require a page refresh
Reduce number of ‘pages’ required in the application
Manage the ‘back button’ and maintain state
But… why would you do this and how does it influence the user experience?

Well intentioned enhancement of the experience over meeting actual user requirements .

Basic Web App: Enriched

Use Ajax to enhance your application
Auto-save form input
Live data validation against the server
Search features
Social interactions
…or anything that benefits from immediate feedback from the server .

Using JavaScript is not easy no matter what tool makers or .js libraries claim.

Tools: Applications
Dreamweaver CS3
Good for Adobe Spry Library
Effective learning tool
Aptana
Powerful IDE for end to end JavaScript development
Jaxer moves JavaScript into server side realm
Good for hardcore JavaScript coders
Spket IDE
Similar to Aptana and a dozen more like it…

Tools: Libraries
jQuery
http://jquery.com/
YahooUI
http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/
Google Web Toolkit
http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/
Adobe Spry
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/spry/

Tools: Web browsers
Firefox
Firebug extension
Internet Explorer
DebugBar

AJAX abuse is subjective.

Why you may not care
People log into your application anyway so search engines are useless
Everyone in our user group has broadband
Computers are faster
IE 6 is dead

Why you should care
Browser updates can make lazy JavaScript a nightmare (IE 6 to 7)
People have video streaming, audio streaming, gaming, wireless issues, eating bandwidth and processor
No one cares about a slick interface if there is no value to them

How can you avoid it?
Understand the limits of the technology
Leverage best practices in web application development
Compliment your UI with JavaScript, don’t base your UI on it
Utilize libraries wherever practical
Hire js experts for complex projects

About me
Jesse Rodgers
Member of the Special Projects Group at the University of Waterloo
Blog: http://whoyoucallingajesse.com
Email: [email_address]

Ajax Abuse Todcon2008

by Jesse Rodgers on Jun 10, 2008

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Ajax Abuse Todcon2008 — Presentation Transcript