Web Technology: Is AJAX due for a Shake-Up?

One component often associated with Web2.0 is AJAX.  AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) has been a lead technology in enabling browser-based applications to become more dynamic and interactive, trying to rival the experience of native applications.

Many of the ‘2.0 initiatives’, like Content Management 2.0,  are based on the idea of next-generation dynamic and interactive web-based applications and, so far, AJAX has been the leading technology in powering the implementations.

But the very foundation of AJAX is flawed.  It is built on Javascript.  AJAX has succeeded because all browsers have some support for Javascript.  As a language, There may be Javascript may have problems,  but its main problems are poor security and lack of interoperability across browsers and browser versions.

Examples of viruses and worms that have recently exploited Javascript flaws include the Yamanner worm that struck Yahoo web-based mail last summer, and the Samy worm that exploited vulnerabilities in the Javascript used on MySpace.com.  Security researchers also found an example where malicious Javascript could bypass firewall security and map home or corporate networks and initiate attacks on connected devices, like printers and routers.   

David Wagner, assistant professor of computer science at the University of California at Berkeley, summed it up when he said that there are 1001 ways to hide Javascript in an HTML page, a wiki, MySpace or Yahoo-mail-like site.  “If you caught 1,000 of them, you’re still out of luck,” Wagner says. “The bad guys have the advantage.”

Good AJAX implementations are great and a pleasure to use.  Many of Google’s products are good examples.  But creating AJAX applications that work across many browsers is very complex and difficult.  The result has been that many software vendors have created tools to ease development.  There has been an explosion of AJAX frameworks released that target AJAX web development applications, and most of the frameworks have been proprietary.  The Open Source AJAX development tools that are available lack visual design capability.

Forrester Research’s recent report Ajax Or Flex?: How To Select RIA Technologies predicts a shakeout of proprietary AJAX development tools.  Jeffrey Hammond, author of the report, says that selecting commercial AJAX development tools because Open Source options aren’t yet as advanced, is no different than selecting a competing technology framework like that of Adobe’s Flex. 

As a technology, Flex is a far more compelling option in terms of richness and security. Hammond also expects Adobe will move to make Flex more Open-Source friendly which would boost adoption by developers.  While Flex may not turn out to be the ultimate winner as the preferred rich user interface technology for Web 2.0, AJAX’s issues of security and complexity related to interoperability will make developers eager to find a technology that can replace it.