Ajax, the archetypal Greek warrior, has over the years been trivialized as a peripheral character in the classics through Hollywood representations, and by the use of his name on household cleaning products. Examining a broad range of sources--from film, art and literature to advertising and sports--this study of the "Bulwark of the Achaeans" and his mythological image redefines his presence in Western culture, revealing him as the predominant voice in The Iliad and in myriad works across the classical canon.

Provides information on using Ajax in building Web applications.

In the spirit of Flashman and in the inimitable George MacDonald Fraser style comes a rousing story of prize fighting in the 19th century.

The Definitive Guide to Ajax Web Application Development Evolve from the click-and-wait programming pattern to the latest Web 2.0 paradigm using this comprehensive guide to Ajax. Written by Web development expert Thomas Powell, the book lays out every feature of Ajax alongside detailed explanations and real-world code examples. Ajax: The Complete Reference explains how to create and test Ajax-enabled Web applications using the XMLHttpRequest object as well as alternative JavaScript-based communication mechanisms. You'll explore a variety of sample applications featuring emerging user-interface conventions and build applications that address real-world networking and security issues. A robust communication library is developed throughout the book that enables you to architect flexible Ajax applications. The latest technologies such as Web services, Flash-Ajax integration, client-side templates, Comet, and Offline Access are also covered. Discover the future of Web development today! Work with traditional JavaScript communication approaches like iframes Explore all the quirks and details in the XMLHttpRequest object Handle disparate data formats, including XML, JSON, CSV, YAML, and more Deal with networking issues, including timeouts, retries, response ordering, and a variety of server and content errors Simplify JavaScript programming using open-source Ajax libraries like YUI Secure Ajax applications using authentication, obfuscation, and encryption Implement common Ajax UI patterns such as auto suggest, click-to-edit, and drag-and-drop Solve troubling Ajax architecture problems, including back button, history, and bookmarking issues Learn Ajax's role in Web 2.0 and Web services Explore push style communication using Comet and Flash Discover the future of offline Web application access and operation

As a web user, you'll no doubt have noticed some of the breathtaking applications available in today's modern web, such as Google Maps and Flickrdesktop applications than the old style web sites you are used to. You've probably also wished that you could create such things, and then thought "nahhh, I'd need to know a lot of complicated code to be able to even start creating sites like these." Well, think again. There is a lot of complicated code involved in cutting-edge "Ajax-style" web applications, but a lot of the hard work is already done for you, and available on the Web. JavaScript libraries exist to provide most of that Ajax/DOM Scripting functionality out of the box. Application programming interfaces (APIs) exist to allow you to transplant complicated applications such as Google Maps and Flickr right into your own web sites. And hosting services such as Flickr and YouTube provide all you need to store and retrieve your media (be it images, video, or whatever) at your leisure, without having to worry about bandwidth issues and file naming nightmares. All you need to know is enough to successfully wire together all this functionality successfully and responsibly, and this book shows you how. It starts from the very beginning of your journey, showing you what's available, what you need, and how to set up an effective development environment. After a solid base has been built, it shows you how to build up each aspect of your site, including storing, retrieving, and displaying content, adding images and video to your site, building effective site navigation and laying it all out beautifully using CSS, promoting your content so you will attract visitors to your site, and adding special effects to enhance usability and design asthetics...all with ready-made functionality available on the Web! Life as a web developer has never been easier.

“I very much enjoyed how this book covers the full Ajax application lifecycle and not only coding techniques. Anyone who is looking to become a professional front-end developer will appreciate the architectural insight and best practices delivered by this book.” — Andi Gutmans, Co-Founder & Co-Chief Technology Officer of Zend Technologies Mission-Critical Ajax: Maximizing Scalability, Performance, Security, Reliability, and Maintainability Advanced Ajax: Architecture and Best Practices is the definitive guide to building business-critical, production-quality Web applications with Ajax. Shawn M. Lauriat systematically addresses the design, architecture, and development issues associated with Ajax, offering proven patterns and robust code examples available in no other book. You’ll find best practices for addressing the full spectrum of issues enterprise Ajax developers face: scalability, performance, security, reliability, flexibility, maintainability, and reusability. Writing for experienced Web developers, Lauriat delivers fresh ideas and elegant solutions: meaty technical content, presented with exceptional clarity. Among the many topics he covers in unprecedented depth: cleanly implementing JavaScript custom events to reduce coupling and to enhance flexibility; overcoming Ajax’s traditional accessibility limitations; reducing network latency through compression and other techniques; and much more. Coverage includes Planning Ajax interfaces for simplicity, clarity, and intuitiveness Creating scalable, maintainable architectures for client-side JavaScript Using the latest tools to profile, validate, and debug client-side code Architecting the server side for security and functionality, while restricting loaded data, objects, and actions to current requests Protecting against the most widespread and significant Ajax security risks Optimizing every component of an Ajax application, from server-side scripts to database interactions Introducing cutting-edge Ajax: game development, Ajax with canvas, and Ajax for enterprise applications About the Web Site This book’s companion Web site (http://advancedajax.frozen-o.com) doesn’t just provide all the code: It shows code examples in action, as building blocks of a real Web application interface.

A definitive guide to Ajax, this text demonstrates how to build browser-based applications that function like desktop programs, using sophisticated server-aware approaches that give users information when they need it.