AJAX

Asynchronous Javascript And XMLHttpRequest (or XML ?) It uses a number of existing technologies together, including the following: HTML or XHTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), JavaScript, DOM (Document Object Model), XML and the XMLHttpRequest object. XML Extensible Markup Language, a specification developed by the W3C. XML is a pared-down version of SGML, designed especially for Web documents. It allows designers to create their own customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations. XHML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) is a family of XML markup languages that mirror or extend versions of the widely used Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Because XHTML documents need to be well-formed, they can be parsed using standard XML parsersunlike HTML, which requires a lenient HTML-specific parser. Javascript A scripting language developed by Netscape to enable Web authors to design interactive sites. Although it shares many of the features and structures of the full Java language, it was developed independently. Javascript can interact with HTML source code, enabling Web authors to spice up their sites with dynamic content. Loosely typed scripting language JavaScript function is called when an event in a page occurs Glue for the whole AJAX operation DOM Short for Document Object Model, the specification for how objects in a Web page (text, images, headers, links, etc.) are 1

represented. The DOM defines what attributes are associated with each object, and how the objects and attributes can be manipulated. Dynamic HTML (DHTML) relies on the DOM to dynamically change the appearance of Web pages after they have been downloaded to a user's browser. The Document Object Model (DOM) is a crossplatform and language-independent convention for representing and interacting with objects in HTML, XHTML and XML documents. Aspects of the DOM (such as its "Elements") may be addressed and manipulated within the syntax of the programming language in use. API for accessing and manipulating structured documents Represents the structure of XML and HTML documents CSS Cascading Style Sheets, a feature being added to HTML that gives both Web site developers and users more control over how pages are displayed. With CSS, designers and users can create style sheets that define how different elements, such as headers and links, appear. These style sheets can then be applied to any Web page. The term cascading derives from the fact that multiple style sheets can be applied to the same Web page. CSS was developed by the W3C. Allows for a clear separation of the presentation style from the content and may be changed programmatically by JavaScript XMLHttpRequest Abbreviated as XHR, XMLHttpRequest is a set of APIs that can be used by Web browser scripting languages, such as JavaScript to transfer XML and other text data to and from a Web server using HTTP. XMLHttpRequest works by establishing a communication channel between a Web page's client-side and server-side. XMLHttpRequest can be used to fetch data in a number of formats including XML, HTML, JSON or plain text. JavaScript object that performs asynchronous interaction with the server When these technologies are combined in the Ajax model, Web Applications are able to make quick, incremental updates to the user interface without reloading the entire browser page. Ajax gives a natural user interaction based on user events like mouse movement, mouse click, etc. "Partial screen update" replaces the "click, wait, and refresh" user interaction model.

Only user interface elements that contain new information are updated (fast response). The rest of the user interface remains displayed without interruption (no loss of operational context).

JSON
Short for JavaScript Object Notation, JSON is a lightweight datainterchange format that is easy for humans to read and write, and for machines to parse and generate. JSON is based on the object notation of the JavaScript language. However, it does not require JavaScript to read or write because it is a text format that is language independent.

Three Tier Architecture

Three-tier architecture has the following three tiers: Presentation tier This is the topmost level of the application. The presentation tier displays information related to such services as browsing merchandise, purchasing, and shopping cart contents. It communicates with other tiers by outputting results to the browser/client tier and all other tiers in the network. Application tier Tier/Middle Tier) (Business Logic/Logic Tier/Data Access

The logic tier is pulled out from the presentation tier and, as its own layer, it controls an applications functionality by performing detailed processing. Data tier This tier consists of Database Servers. Here information is stored and retrieved. This tier keeps data neutral and independent from application servers or business logic. Giving data its own tier also improves scalability and performance. Comparison with the MVC architecture At first glance, the three tiers may seem similar to the MVC (Model View Controller) concept; however, topologically they are different. A fundamental rule in a three-tier architecture is the client tier never communicates directly with the data tier; in a three-tier model all communication must pass through the middleware tier. Conceptually the three-tier architecture is linear. However, the MVC architecture is triangular: the View sends updates to the Controller, the Controller updates the Model, and the View gets updated directly from the Model.