A Simpler Ajax Path

Things have steadily improved for web developers with the advent of standards-compliant browsers, CSS, DHTML, and the DOM. Pervasive broadband access has made web apps feel a lot snappier. Now something called the XMLHttpRequest object makes it even easier to develop full-blown, superinteractive applications to deploy in the browser.

While not exactly new, the XMLHttpRequest object is receiving more attention lately as the linchpin in a new approach to web app development, most recently dubbed Ajax (asynchronous JavaScript and XML), which powers the cool features found on sites like Flickr, Amazon's A9.com, and the new poster children for whizzy web-based interactivity, Google Maps and Google Suggest. The snazzy Ajax moniker seems to be getting some momentum--it's popping up in all sorts of places, including the Ajaxian weblog and the recent Ajax Summit put together by O'Reilly Media and Adaptive Path.

Cool acronym or not, when I decided a while back to add a long overdue Search Playlist feature to my webcast radio station, EpiphanyRadio, it seemed like a good opportunity to show off some of the features the XMLHttpRequest object offers. The Search feature accesses a PostgreSQL database of the tracks in current rotation and allows listeners to search by artist, song title, and other criteria.

As it turns out, it's pretty easy to take advantage of the XMLHttpRequest object to make a web app act more like a desktop app--while still using traditional tools like web forms for collecting user input. I also found some great ways to handle server-side errors to make debugging less of a headache.