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Friday, June 24, 2005

Drag and drop like a big kid

I think I've mentioned AJAX here before. It stands for Asynchronous Javascript And XML. Big *yawn* I know. It's a web technology that's been around for a while, but it's finally making a splash. In short, it allows you to do roundtrips to a website's database without the constant need for refreshing. For a sample, use Google Maps. See how slick it loads when you enter an address? That's XMLHTTP at work. It's all over the place in 37signals' products like Basecamp, Ta-Da Lists and Backpack too.

More and more developers are getting excited about the possibilities of AJAX and how it can improve an online experience. I'm setting some goals now for a website relaunch at work, and I'm thinking of injecting some of this cool new (standards compliant!) technology into the project.

If you're a fan of Transmit, the FTP client by Panic, then you've seen this sort of thing before. But check out script.aculo.us. It's a cinch to begin working with its Prototype Javascript library and you can start building drag and drop widgets in no time.

I can certainly see this being overused like other hip technologies (e.g., I'm not a big fan of Flash when it's used for navigation). I would want to find a legitimate use for it rather than pulling a "see what I can do" stunt. However I feel there's some real substance to all of this and it's going to play a substantial role on websites for years to come. I really need to redesign our customer accounts and I can see AJAX playing a role in the project. If you've seen other cool applications of AJAX, let me know!