1. What is AJAX?

AJAX is the short for “Asynchronous JavaScript and XML” and is NOT a programming language, as many may think. It is a “technique” used to create dynamic and creative web applications. The idea of using AJAX is to make web pages be more responsive, by communicating with the server behind the scenes and to avoid reloading of the entire web page each time the user requests a change. It is asynchronous in nature as the XML data loading does not interfere with the actual HTML and JavaScript pages. The AJAX function calls are made in JavaScript.

2. Who invented AJAX?

Official date is probably unknown but the first usage of the term was in early 2005 by Jesse James Garrett.

3. What are the primary technologies involved in AJAX programming?

Mainly five (5) of them. They are:

• standards-based presentation – XHTML, CSS
• dynamic display and interaction – Document Object Model
• data interchange and manipulation – XML, XSLT
• asynchronous data retrieval – XMLHttpRequest
• functionality - JavaScript

4. Which company is the pioneer of AJAX?

Adaptive Path, San Francisco, CA