Ajax stands for "Asynchronous JavaScript and XML" and is not a standalone technology but rather a collection of web development techniques. Ajax allows web pages to asynchronously exchange data between the web browser and the server without reloading the entire page. This facilitates a faster and smoother user experience, as only the relevant parts of the page need to be updated instead of reloading the entire page.
The key technologies used in Ajax are:
JavaScript: Ajax heavily relies on JavaScript, which is executed in the user's web browser. JavaScript is used to capture events, manipulate the Document Object Model (DOM), and send HTTP requests to the server.
XMLHttpRequest: This JavaScript object is used to send asynchronous requests to the server. It allows the web browser to retrieve data from the server or send data to the server without reloading the entire page.
HTML/CSS: The received data can be dynamically inserted into the DOM structure using JavaScript to update the page. Styling changes can also be applied using CSS to alter the appearance of the page.
While the name "Ajax" suggests XML (Extensible Markup Language), other data formats like JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) are often used today as they are more easily processed by JavaScript.
Ajax gained popularity as web applications became more complex, and users demanded a more responsive user interface without constantly reloading entire pages. Today, Ajax is used in many modern web applications to provide an improved user experience.