Yes, there is that and there is also “Asynchronous JavaScript and XML”.
Jesse James Garrett, the person who invented the acronym AJAX, defines it:
Ajax isn’t a technology. It’s really several technologies, each flourishing in its own right, coming together in powerful new ways. Ajax incorporates:
Nowadays, AJAX is the latest buzz word buzzing not only among web application developers but also among venture-capital firms. It drew the attention of the Wall Street journal which just published an article about AJAX, titled: New Web-based Technology Draws Applications, Investors.
The article mentions that AJAX first made its fame because of its adoption by Google (like Google maps, Gmail, Google suggest…), but did you know that Ajax-type technologies were first developed by Microsoft in the late 1990s as part of its Internet Explorer Web browser to improve its Internet applications.
The article also lists, in addition to Google, a few web sites that use Ajax like Joyent, Kiko, Meebo, Upstartle and Zimbra.
So, how does Oracle use AJAX? For a starter, there is Oracle’s “Partial Page Rendering”, read related post by Steve Muench. There is also ADF Faces, read related entry in the IT eye blog. HTML DB can do AJAX too, read Scott Spendolini’s post about it.
Update: Slashdot has picked up the WSJ story.
Related articles:
Filed in ColdFusion, Oracle, Technology on 03 Nov 05 | Tags: ajax