AJAX, more than a cleanser.

If you happen to overhear conversations regarding the need to develop
applications that are network efficient and offer a zero footprint
deployment in conjunction with the phrase AJAX, don’t look too
perplexed. Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, or Ajax, is a web development architecture using:”

• HTML (or XHTML) and CSS for presenting information
• The Document Object Model manipulated through JavaScript to dynamically display and interact with the information presented
• The XMLHttpRequest object to exchange data asynchronously with the web server. (XML is commonly used, although any format will work, including preformatted HTML, plain text, JSON and even EBML)

Like DHTML, LAMP, or SPA,
Ajax is not a technology in itself, but a term that refers to the use
of a group of technologies together. In fact, derivative/composite
technologies based substantially upon Ajax, such as AFLAX, are already appearing.”

While somewhat complicated, AJAX is being used more and more by
organizations to create web applications that operate and feel like fat
client apps.

If this intrigues you and you want to learn more about AJAX, here are some resources to get started:

AJAX programming

Dynamic Web Apps and AJAX

Putting AJAX to work.

Demystifying AJAX