Ajax is everywhere, from the local newspaper to sites that the CEO surfs. Contrary to popular belief, it isn't rocket science, especially with the right library. In this talk, we'll explore the popular Prototype and jQuery libraries showing how they can simplify typical Ajax techniques and make JavaScript easier to work with. We'll look at how each library wraps the XHR object, smoothes out events, and how they each make use of the humble $.
While there are a plethora of excellent choices in the Ajax library space, jQuery is fast becoming one of the most popular. In this talk, we'll see why. In addition to it's outstanding support for CSS selectors, dirt simple DOM manipulation, event handling and animations, jQuery also supports a rich ecosystem of plugins that provide an abundance of top notch widgets. Using various examples, this talk will help you understand what jQuery can do so you can see if it's right for your next project.
