A practical tutorial to enhancing the user experience of your ASP.NET web applications with the final release of the Microsoft AJAX Library

• A rapid and practical guide to including AJAX features in your .NET applications
• Learn practical development strategies and techniques
  
• Go through a case study that demonstrates the theory you learned throughout the book.
  

In Detail

Microsoft AJAX Library Essentials is a practical reference for the client-side library of the ASP.NET AJAX Framework 1.0, and a tutorial for the underlying technologies and techniques required to use the library at its full potential. The main goal of this book is to get you comfortable with the Microsoft AJAX Library, a huge set of functions that can be used for developing powerful client-side functionality.

Beginning with a hands-on tour of the basic technologies associated with AJAX, JavaScript, XMLHttpRequest, JSON, and the DOM, you'll move on to a crash course in the Microsoft AJAX tools. You will learn, through numerous step-by-step exercises, how to create basic AJAX applications, how the object-based programming model of JavaScript works, and how Microsoft AJAX Library extends this model. You'll understand the architecture of the Microsoft AJAX components, how they all fit together, and exactly what they can do for you. Then you will learn how to use the Microsoft AJAX Library in your web projects, and a detailed case study will walk you through creating your own customized client components.

At every stage of your journey, you'll be able to try out examples to illuminate the theory, and consolidate your understanding. In addition to learning about the client and server controls, you'll also see how to handle errors and debug your AJAX applications.

To complement your new found skills, the book ends with a visual reference of the Microsoft AJAX Library namespaces and classes, including diagrams and quick explanations for all the classes mentioned in the book, providing an invaluable reference you will turn to again and again.

What you will learn from this book?

This book teaches you, through step-by-step exercises, the following essential topics:

• How to create basic AJAX applications using JavaScript, CSS, DOM, and the XMLHttpRequest object.
• Understand the object-oriented model of JavaScript.
• Learn what the Microsoft AJAX Library is made of.
• Understand how the Microsoft AJAX Library extends the object-oriented capabilities of JavaScript by adding support for namespaces, interfaces, events, properties, and an improved set of base classes.
• Implement JavaScript classes and interfaces based on Visual Studio class diagrams
• Create client components, controls and behaviors, by extending existing elements of the page, registering events, and utilizing the page life cycle.
• Go through a case study that demonstrates the theory you learned throughout the book.

Approach

This book is a practical tutorial to get you confident and comfortable working with the Microsoft AJAX suite. Packed with step-by-step examples and detailed explanations of how the examples work, this book is the ideal first step into the exciting world of AJAX in ASP.NET

Who this book is written for?

This book has been written for ASP.NET developers entering the world of the ASP.NET AJAX Framework, and for existing ASP.NET AJAX developers looking for a more detailed tutorial on the client-side of the framework: the Microsoft AJAX Library.