Web 2.0 and Ajax

I've been reading for months now (maybe longer) about web 2.0 and AJAX (wiki) etc.  I have even added a couple of AJAX 'functions' to Valor's website. I have written web apps for almost 10 years now and all the ideas I've wanted to implement over the years, but was unable to, are now becoming possible.  Most of these ideas have been implemented one way or another over the last few years, but there was always one missing ingredient, talking to the server with out reloading a whole page.  True, I could hide an iframe here or there and do some serious javascript programming to make something work, but there was no easy solution.  Now, thanks to microsoft of all people (I believe thew were the ones, I'm not positive) we have xmlhttp.

Yes, this is an old technology that was right there under my nose for the last year or so, but it never dawned on me that it was the missing link I needed.  Now everywhere you look everybody is touting AJAX as the next big thing, but the truth is, it's just one simple addition to all the technologies that were already available.  With the addition of that one little technology, now all the other technologies have been given another chance at life.  dhtml and javascript now have some usefulness besides annoying text around a cursor and popups.

When IE4 (or IE3?) came out with dhtml as the next big thing, I wrote all sorts of apps to use different dhtml effects, but it got old quick, and before I knew it, I was back to the client server type app in no time.  Most people outside of our organization were confused if something changed on their screen without a page refresh.  Just the simple task of hiding and showing some text seemed to confuse people.  Then there was the whole IE vs Netscape.  I wrote for an intranet and a website.  The intranet was great because I knew what everybody was running, if it worked in IE, it worked everywhere, but when it came to the website, I was generic as can be, because I didn't have time to test it every which way.  Even being careful, I still ran into issues.

Now, with the influx of libraries for javascript programming and AJAX programing that is truly cross browser, I have a renewed interest in building truly dynamic application that can run on a web page.  I have already rewrote some of the apps we use in house to check orders and ship orders using AJAX on Windows Mobile Handhelds and if it weren't for the browser menu, you wouldn't know you were using a web browser.

With the addition of these new, though not so new, technologies, I plan on making some of my ecommerce creations over the last 10 years available soon to the public.  Both the public website side and the backend intranet.  I believe with the features I can add now, they will be a very helpful addition to some small businesses out there.  I don't think there are many apps out there for the web that can say they have 10 years of development and use behind them.  So keep an eye here for some upcoming info and keep an eye on www.aspdesigns.com for more.