[wp-hackers] AJAX

[Elliott Franklin Cable]

Yeah... i actually must say I do stray a TAD toward the use-ajax  
extreme, if only for two reasons:

1) I disagree with you - I'd say that in 99.9% of cases, AJAX is  
40-50% useless. Decoration is *not* useless - a good user experience  
is essential to any application, any site, any... anything. I used to  
host on MediaTemple - then switched to DreamHost because they were  
cheaper. As soon as I got in, I looked at the control panel and  
though *euck* - but I put up with it, hell it was cheaper and  
everything else in the features seemed better. Guess what? The  
support SUCKED. At least, compared to (mt)'s unofficial 10-minute  
rule. I go back to mediatemple, notice how well designed and clean  
the control panel is - easy to find anything, fun to use - and the  
overall hosting experience was BETTER! Ever used Plesk? It is  
TORTURE. Because it is so horribly designed and laid out. My point is  
that good design, an *enjoyable* interface is not only AN element of  
a good service - it is an _ESSENTIAL_ element of a good service! So  
using AJAX for decoration isn't not only a bad thing, it can be a  
good thing (this works the other way around, however - you can use  
too much AJAX, make the user sick of it, and WORSEN their experience;  
and again, AJAX is only an element, and a relatively new one at that,  
of that elusive creature _good design_)

2) I am a Rails developer. Adding AJAX effects in rails is like  
wearing a different pair of pants, you know, the cool jeans, instead  
of those old stuffy khakis. No extra work really, just a decision.

The only real PROBLEM with AJAX is when people use it and *DON'T*  
provide obvious alternatives. It's the rule of developers, if you use  
a technology to make a task easier for your user, make sure that task  
can be done (albeit a bit less easy, perhaps) WITHOUT the technology.  
When people fail to do this, AJAX is blamed. It's a techie case of  
'Guns don't shoot people, people shoot people', nothing more.

On Jun 29, 2006, at 9:36 AM, Computer Guru wrote:
> It would help if you replied directly to the messages ;P
>
> But yes, I agree. AJAX isn't the be-all end-all it's made out to  
> be, but
> nevertheless, it is the _only_ way the web can represent a true  
> application
> platform.
> AJAX provides a (theoretically) seamless way for data-streaming of  
> GET/POST
> without refreshing or reloading a page - but in 99.9% of the  
> circumstances
> it's 100% un-necessary.
>
> Look at where AJAX is used in WP (fading boxes for messages, and the
> widgets bar - nothing else AFAIK).
> The first is useless: pretty, but useless
> The second is broken in many browsers - rendering it useless.
>
>> I don't understand people like this >.<
>>
>> Sure, AJAX isn't *everything* people crack it up to be, but...  
>> it's not useless, it's still pretty cool, it's worth integrating  
>> in a tasteful measure... i jsut don't understand people who fall  
>> in with either extreme on most subjects....
>>
>> On Jun 29, 2006, at 8:44 AM, Robert Deaton wrote:
>>> Sounds like more useless Web 2.0 OMGAJAX bloat to me.