Is Ajax the new Flash?
it seems so - at least when it comes to making the same mistakes that Flash developers were able to make for several years. For those who don't know what Ajax is about - it's a way to exchange data with the server without reloading the whole page by using Javascript - yes folks that pretty much all there is to it - something that Flash is able to accomplish since version 4.
So I find it very amusing to read this list of the most common Ajax mistakes - because lots of it reads like something that people have always bickered to be a problem of Flash sites:
- Breaking the back button
- Blinking and changing parts of the page unexpectedly
- Not using links one can pass to friends or bookmark
- Inventing new UI conventions
- Search bots not being able to index dynamic content
Hmm - maybe Robert Penner's good old back button workaround for Flash is also something that might work for you Ajax guys?
Posted at June 14, 2005 01:58 PM | Further reading
I was shocked by a recent article on AJAX, especially the "New Kind of App" part...
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;982499014;fp;16;fpid;0
It never ceases to amaze me what can be touted as new and radical if you hit on a good acronym. Loading new content without having to load a new page? Incredible, just think of the implications. Now if only the technique were fully cross platform/browser compatible right out of the box, now that would be something. Wait a minute, that WOULD be Flash :O)
What I think is blowing many people away with Ajax, is that they can suddenly produce much "richer" interfaces using their existing know-how of the HTML foundation with only a very small additional learning curve.
You can accomplish a lot with Ajax, and all the other recently re-surfaced javascript and DHTML stuff, like drag and drop, sortable lists, acordions etc etc, and it requires no additional software, players or server-based, it's free and it's very quick and easy to use.
Why would you mess with AJAX's back button breaking? You're creating a Web application, not catering to a static Web page experience. Other Web application frameworks break on back button clicks as well. Here's what I do: http://tom.gilki.org/programming/javascript/Login/
