Beginning Ajax with PHP: From Novice to Professional

Book Description

Ajax breathes new life into web applications by transparently communicating and manipulating data in conjunction with a server-based technology. Of all the server-based technologies capable of working in conjunction with Ajax, perhaps none are more suitable than PHP, the world's most popular scripting language.

Beginning Ajax with PHP: From Novice to Professional is the first book to introduce how these two popular technologies can work together to create next-generation applications. Author Lee Babin covers what you commonly encounter in daily web application development tasks, and shows you how to build PHP/AJAX-enabled solutions for forms validation, file upload monitoring, database-driven information display and manipulation, web services, Google Maps integration, and more. You'll learn how to

Take advantage of PHP and advanced JavaScript capabilities to create next-generation, highly responsive Web applications.
Enhance commonplace application tasks such as forms validation and tabular data display.
Manage cross-browser issues, ensuring your applications run on all major Web browsers.
Take advantage of the Google Maps API and add spatial mapping features to your website.

You'll also be introduced to other key topics like conquering cross-platform issues, countering potential security holes, and testing and debugging JavaScript with efficiency. All examples are based on real-world scenarios, so you'll be able to apply what you learn to your own development situations.

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Reviews From AMAZON.COM

Solid Intro to Ajax

This is a solid book for those looking to get their feet wet with Ajax concepts. Beginning Ajax with PHP: From Novice to Professional was penned by Lee Babin of the recently formed Icona.ca. He brings a wealth of PHP knowledge to the table and effectively shows how to use it alongside JavaScript.

He starts out by explaining some of the concepts behind Ajax, and how it differs from web programming in a controlled environment. He gives real-life examples of how to use asynchronous scripting, such as an image uploader / photo gallery. He also gives examples of how to use Ajax for form submission.

He shows how to use the Google Maps API to create a spatially enabled web application - in this case, one that will locate nearby video game outlets. He also explains how to make use of PEAR - PHP Extension and Application Repository, using proven code to speed up Ajax development.

He also covers how to make use of various web services, and touches on potential pitfalls for security when using Ajax. I liked the way he referred to Ajax as an increased surface area of attack. While not necessarily hazardous to your site or data, it does afford would-be malicious hackers more opportunity. Lee shows how to defend against this and secure your code.

Lastly, he finishes up with an overview of DOM Scripting methods. To me, this seems like something that would have been better suited to the beginning of the book, but I suppose he positioned it as such to delve right into the guts of Ajax, and explain the theory behind it later. I did appreciate this tangible approach.

My one qualm with this book is the client-side code in the examples. There is a mix of document types throughout: HTML 4.01 / XHTML 1.0 Transitional / XHTML 1.0 Strict. I would like to have seen more attention placed on best practices for unobtrusive JavaScript and CSS layout, instead of inline event handlers and tables. That being said, it does effectively explain concepts behind Ajax and gives understandable PHP examples. It is well worth the read.

Use Ajax, PHP and MySQL Together For Great Web Applications

Ajax is a JavaScript based language and therefore many web programmers cringe at the thought of using Ajax on their webpages. Lee Babin has written this book to help those of us new to Ajax learn how to use this new language without being intimidated by its JavaScript origins. After a brief history and introduction to Ajax, Babin begins by discussing the purpose of Ajax in web applications and some of the Ajax basics such as sending server requests without causing the webpage to refresh.

Next, he introduces PHP into the mix and gives several examples of how Ajax can facilitate the communication between client and server in web applications. He uses several everyday examples such as auto-complete and form validation. The next step in learning how to write good web applications is to introduce a database. Babin uses the MySQL database in his working example which is a web based calendar application. I really liked the continuity the author achieved by using this same example throughout the rest of the book. For example in the next chapter, he covers form validation in more detail and then shows how to add this feature to the calendar application.

One advantage of using Ajax and PHP together is how well they handle tasks such as manipulating and displaying images on webpages. Babin first discusses how to generate thumbnail images on the fly and then applies this to a photo gallery. A photo gallery application is often used when teaching a new programming language because it can be used in many situations. However, Babin especially points out how Ajax can be used to improve on the common web based photo gallery.

One of the things programmers love to do when they learn a new programming language is to use it everywhere. Babin discusses why you should avoid this common mistake and explains when it is most useful to use Ajax to enhance your website. For example, he discusses the popularity of web services such as the Google search engine and PayPal payment processing and how to use Ajax to incorporate these services into your site.

As we all know, cross-browser coding is an issue that never seems to be resolved completely. Babin discusses this and other problems encountered when using Ajax. For example, what do you do when the user has turned off JavaScript in his web browser or when the Back and Forward buttons stop working. Finally, he covers how to handle security issues specific to using Ajax.

Lee Babin has been programming for many years and owns his own development company. He has worked on 100+ projects.