AJAX? Atlas!
Similar, in the world of programming for a web new break is planned. And a name to him - AJAX.
In basis AJAX (it is deciphered as Asynchronous Javascript and XML) very simple idea of maximal use of opportunities of browsers for construction of the functional and convenient user interface for webs - applications with use of client scripts lays. Traditionally the web - application works under the circuit search to the server (with sending the data of search) - reception of the answer as HTML - display in a browser. Thus a page at each search pererisovyvaetsja as a rule entirely (except for caching any elements), and client scripts are used a maximum for validacii the entered data. Idea AJAX will consist in creation on the basis of client scripts and functions of browsers on processing XML completely dynamic webs - applications in which already on the client the logic of formation of page works. In this case references{manipulations} to the server occur not completely to receive from HTML server of page, and only for updating a part of page or sending on the server of a portion of the data. Thus from the server it is requested not HTML (that is the data + their performance), and XML which is essentially more compact. For the user it looks, as page very quickly working without copying.
On this technology very many sites are written already. The first (or one of the first) was Microsoft, in 1998 having created Outlook Web Access, then in 2000 new site MSDN with dynamically updated tree of the maintenance{contents} and pages in which in 2003 in Outlook Web Access spelling and many other opportunities which have approached convenience of use OWA to usual Outlook has appeared even has been started. And already then was Google with GMail, Google Maps, etc.
All is good (all have there and then rushed to write super-dynamic sites), if not a little "but":
1. Sufficient for creation of such applications support of client scripts, objective model of a browser, functionality of processing XML was only in IE (5.0 if not I am mistaken). And other browsers were pulled by opportunities only recently. And the level of penetration of such browsers on computers of users, sufficient for distribution AJAX, has taken place not so long ago.
2. To write such applications it is not difficult, and it is very difficult. Programmers should spend huge quantity{amount} of efforts to realization of such convenient interface and it is far from being all are ready to undertake it and to realize started up to the end.
And here on a stage the command of Scott Gatri leaves (Scott Guthrie) with new project Atlas. Atlas is an environment of development and execution{performance} of the applications written on ideology AJAX. She is called to facilitate to developers complexity of creation of such applications, and thus will be closely integrated with ASP.NET 2.0. That is especially wonderful, prototype Atlas will appear already very soon - in September on PDC.

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