{"id":169,"date":"2007-01-05T12:28:27","date_gmt":"2007-01-05T20:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.formtek.com\/blog\/?p=169"},"modified":"2007-01-05T12:28:27","modified_gmt":"2007-01-05T20:28:27","slug":"web-technology-is-ajax-due-for-a-shake-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/web-technology-is-ajax-due-for-a-shake-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Web Technology: Is AJAX due for a Shake-Up?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One component\u00a0often associated with\u00a0Web2.0 is AJAX<\/a>.\u00a0 AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML)\u00a0has been a lead technology in enabling browser-based applications to become more dynamic and interactive, trying to rival the experience of native applications.<\/p>\n

Many of the ‘2.0 initiatives’, like Content Management 2.0<\/a>, \u00a0are based on the idea of next-generation\u00a0dynamic and interactive web-based applications and, so far, AJAX has been the leading technology in powering the implementations.<\/p>\n

But the very foundation of AJAX\u00a0is flawed.\u00a0 It is built on Javascript.\u00a0 AJAX has succeeded because all browsers have some support for Javascript.\u00a0\u00a0As a language, There may be Javascript may have problems,\u00a0 but its main problems are poor security<\/a> and lack of interoperability<\/a> across browsers and browser versions.<\/p>\n

Examples of viruses and worms that have recently exploited Javascript flaws include the Yamanner worm<\/a>\u00a0that struck Yahoo web-based mail last summer, and the Samy worm<\/a> that exploited vulnerabilities in the Javascript used on MySpace.com.\u00a0 Security researchers also found\u00a0an example<\/a> where\u00a0malicious Javascript could\u00a0bypass firewall security and map home or corporate networks and initiate attacks on connected devices, like printers and routers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

David Wagner, assistant professor of computer science at the University of California at Berkeley, summed it up when he said<\/a> that there are 1001 ways to hide Javascript in an HTML page, a wiki, MySpace or Yahoo-mail-like site.\u00a0 “If you caught 1,000 of them, you’re still out of luck,” Wagner says. “The bad guys have the advantage.”<\/p>\n

Good AJAX implementations are great and a pleasure to use.\u00a0 Many of Google’s products are good examples.\u00a0 But creating AJAX applications that work across many browsers is very complex and difficult.\u00a0 The result has been that many software vendors have created tools to ease development.\u00a0 There has been an explosion of AJAX frameworks released that\u00a0target AJAX web development applications, and most of the frameworks have been\u00a0proprietary.\u00a0 The Open Source AJAX development tools that are available lack visual design capability.<\/p>\n

Forrester Research’s recent report<\/a> Ajax Or Flex?: How To Select RIA Technologies<\/em>\u00a0predicts a shakeout\u00a0of proprietary AJAX development tools.\u00a0 Jeffrey Hammond, author of the report, says<\/a> 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a technology, Flex<\/a> is a far more compelling\u00a0option in terms of\u00a0richness and security. Hammond also expects Adobe will move to make Flex more Open-Source friendly which would boost adoption by developers.\u00a0 While Flex may not turn out to be the ultimate winner as\u00a0the preferred rich user interface\u00a0technology\u00a0for Web 2.0,\u00a0AJAX’s issues of security and complexity related to interoperability\u00a0will make developers eager to find a technology that can replace it.<\/p>\n

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One component\u00a0often associated with\u00a0Web2.0 is AJAX.\u00a0 AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML)\u00a0has 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…<\/span><\/p>\n

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