Webucator Courseware

Ajax Training with PHP Overview

In this Ajax training course, students learn to make calls to the server with JavaScript and to manipulate XML content returned from the server. Ajax opens the door to creating sophisticated web-based applications with much more of the logic (and therefore code) is handled on the client. While Ajax allows for more dynamic and responsive applications, it changes the traditional role of JavaScript dramatically and forces developers to rethink how they write and manage JavaScript code. After taking this Ajax training course, students will be able to create sophisticated Ajax-based applications in an efficient and modular way. For those new to CSS, XML, XSLT and/or JavaScript, this Ajax training course can be customized to include accelerated introductions to those technologies. The server-side code is written in PHP.

Ajax Training with PHP Course Goals

• Learn how Ajax works.
• Learn to write cross-browser Ajax code.
• Learn to use Ajax to make a call to the server without a page refresh.
• Learn to modify content blocks on a page without refreshing the whole page.
• Learn to use server-side form validation with Ajax.
• Learn to move elements around the page with Dynamic HTML.
• Learn to show and hide elements.
• Learn to manipulate XML documents with JavaScript using the DOM.
• Learn to manipulate XML documents with JavaScript using XSLT.
• Learn to program in JavaScript using Object-Oriented techniques.
• Learn to work with various JavaScript/Ajax libraries, such as Prototype, Scriptaculous, and Sarissa.

Ajax Training with PHP Course Prerequisites

Experience in the following areas is required.

• HTML
• JavaScript
• CSS

Experience in the following areas would be beneficial.

• XSLT
• PHP

Ajax Training with PHP Course Outline

1. Ajax Basics
   1. The Purpose of Ajax
      1. Traditional Web Application
      2. An Ajax Web Application
   2. The XMLHttpRequest Object
      1. Creating an XMLHttpRequest Object
      2. Using an XMLHttpRequest Object
      3. Handling the Response
   3. Conclusion
2. Ajax Frameworks
   1. The Purpose of Frameworks
      1. Choosing a Framework
   2. Dojo
      1. Downloading Dojo
      2. Using Dojo for Ajax
   3. Prototype
      1. Downloading Prototype
      2. Using Prototype for Ajax
   4. Other Popular Frameworks
      1. Direct Web Remoting (DWR)
      2. AjaxAnywhere
      3. Simple Ajax (SAJAX)
      4. Sarissa
      5. Other Frameworks
   5. Conclusion
3. The HTML Document Object Model
   1. Accessing Nodes
      1. Accessing Element Nodes
      2. Accessing Attribute Nodes
      3. getAttribute
      4. attributes[]
      5. Accessing Nodes by Type, Name or Value
      6. Accessing Nodes by Class Name
   2. Removing Nodes from the DOM
      1. DOM Differences: The Whitespace Problem
   3. Creating New Nodes
   4. Conclusion
4. XML and Ajax
   1. Creating a DOM Document with JavaScript
   2. Accessing, Creating and Modifying XML Nodes
      1. Creating an AddChild() Function
   3. Receiving XML Responses
   4. Conclusion
5. Ajax Applications
   1. Login Form
   2. Quick Lookup Form
   3. Preloaded Data
      1. Ajax Slideshow
      2. Navigable Tables
   4. Conclusion
6. OO JavaScript and Refactoring Ajax
   1. Illustrating the Problem
   2. Object-Oriented JavaScript
      1. JavaScript Classes
      2. Prototypes
      3. Extending Built-in Objects
   3. Refactoring the Ajax Request Code
   4. Conclusion
7. JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)
   1. Object Literals
      1. Arrays
      2. Objects
      3. Arrays in Objects
      4. Objects in Arrays
   2. JSON
      1. JSON Syntax
      2. JSON Parsers
         1. PHP JSON Extension (added in PHP 5.2)
         2. PEAR JSON
         3. ZEND JSON
      3. JSON Advantages and Disadvantages
   3. Conclusion
8. XSLT Transformations with JavaScript
   1. XSLT
      1. Basic XSLT
   2. XSLT in the Browser
      1. XSLT in Internet Explorer
      2. XSLT in Mozilla
   3. Sarissa
      1. Advantages and Disadvantages of XSLT in Ajax Applications
   4. Conclusion
9. Drag and Drop
   1. Drag and Drop Basics
   2. script.aculo.us
      1. Draggables
      2. Droppables
      3. A More Interesting Example
   3. Conclusion
10. More Ajax Applications
    1. Inline Editing
    2. Detailed Information on Demand
    3. Autologout
    4. Autocompletion
    5. Conclusion

Setup

For setup instructions, please visit http://www.webucator.com/Course.cfm?CourseID=JSC405