jQuery AJAX

Ajax is an abbreviation for Asynchronous Javascript And Xml. Ajax is just a method of transferring data from the server to the web browser without having to reload the entire page.

Ajax essentially uses the JavaScript-based XMLHttpRequest object to transmit and receive data to and from a web server asynchronously, in the background, without interfering with the user's experience.

Ajax has grown so prevalent that it is difficult to find an application that does not use it to some level. Gmail, Google Maps, Google Docs, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, and other large-scale Ajax-driven internet services are examples.

AJAX with jQuery

distinct browsers perform Ajax differently, which means that if you use the standard JavaScript method to implement Ajax, you must write distinct code for each browser to ensure that Ajax works cross-browser.

However, jQuery simplifies the task of implementing Ajax by accounting for browser variations. It provides basic methods such as load(), $.get(), $.post(), and so on to construct Ajax that works across all browsers.

In the next chapters, you will learn how to load data from the server and transmit and receive data using the HTTP GET and POST methods with jQuery Ajax.