It’s that time in a technology’s lifecycle when myths abound and someone wheels out a collection of “myths” and retorts. Here’s my contribution to that time-honoured genre. Nine myths in 37 minutes.
Myth: “AJAX”
Reality: Ajax
Myth: Ajax is rocket science
Reality: It’s an incremental progression
Myth: Javascript sucks
Reality: It doesn’t
Myth: The URL’s always the same
Reality: Unique URLs are possible
Myth: Ajax==XMLHttpRequest
Reality: There are other remoting technologies, and some Ajax apps don’t need any at all
Myth: The server must output XML
Reality: Server can output plain-text or specialised formats like JSON
Myth: Ajax lets websites spy on users.
Reality: The same “spying” techniques have already been possible using images and form submissions.
Myth: Ajax will crush Flash.
Reality: Flash can augment Ajax.
Myth: Ajax will rule the world!
Reality: Ajax still has many challenges ahead: usability, accessibility, portability, scaleabiity …
