Q. Techniques for asynchronous server communication have been around for years. What makes Ajax a"new"approach? hat's new is the prominent use of these techniques in real-world plications to change the fundamental interaction model of the Web. Ajax taking hold now because these technologies and the industrys understanding of how to deploy them most effectively have taken time to develop Q. Is ajax a technology platform or is it an architectural style? It's both. ajax is a set of technologies being used together in a particular way Q. What kinds of applications is Ajax best suited for? A. We dont know yet. Because this is a relatively new approach, our understanding of where Ajax can best be applied is still in its inf ancy Sometimes the traditional web application model is the most appropriate on a problem Q. Does this mean Adaptive Path is anti-Flash? A. Not at all. Macromedia is an Adaptive Path client and we've long been supporters of Flash technology. As Ajax matures, we expect that sometimes Ajax will be the better solution to a particular problem and sometimes Flash will be the better solution. Were also interested in exploring ways the technologies can be mixed (as in the case of Flickr, which uses both) Q. Does Ajax have sign if icant accessibility or browser compatib il ity lim ita tions? Do Ajax applications break the back button? Is ajax compatible w ith REST? Are there security considerations with Ajax development? Can Ajax applications b made to work for users who have Java Script turned off? A. The answer to all of these questions is "maybe". Many developers are already working on ways to address these concerns. We think theres more work to be done to determine all the limitations of Ajax, and we expect the ajax development community to uncover more issues like these along the way Q. Some of the Google examples you cite dont use XML at all. do i have to use XML and/or XsLT in an Ajax application?Q. Techniques for asynchronous server communication have been around for years. What makes Ajax a “new” approach? A. What’s new is the prominent use of these techniques in real-world applications to change the fundamental interaction model of the Web. Ajax is taking hold now because these technologies and the industry’s understanding of how to deploy them most ef fectively have taken time to develop. Q. Is Ajax a technology platform or is it an architectural style? A. It’s both. Ajax is a set of technologies being used together in a particular way. Q. What kinds of applications is Ajax best suited for? A. We don’t know yet. Because this is a relatively new approach, our understanding of where Ajax can best be applied is still in its infancy. Sometimes the traditional web application model is the most appropriate solution to a problem. Q. Does this mean Adaptive Path is anti-Flash? A. Not at all. Macromedia is an Adaptive Path client, and we’ve long been supporters of Flash technology. As Ajax matures, we expect that sometimes Ajax will be the better solution to a particular problem, and sometimes Flash will be the better solution. We’re also interested in exploring ways the technologies can be mixed (as in the case of Flickr, which uses both). Q. Does Ajax have significant accessibility or browser compatibility limitations? Do Ajax applications break the back button? Is Ajax compatible with REST? Are there security considerations with Ajax development? Can Ajax applications be made to work for users who have JavaScript turned of f ? A. The answer to all of these questions is “maybe”. Many developers are already working on ways to address these concerns. We think there’s more work to be done to determine all the limitations of Ajax, and we expect the Ajax development community to uncover more issues like these along the way. Q. Some of the Google examples you cite don’t use XML at all. Do I have to use XML and/or XSLT in an Ajax application?