A lot of people have been asking me lately about the upcoming book, Professional Ajax, and what it will cover. Well, here’s a brief outline of the chapters:

1. What is Ajax? – Background of Ajaxand its rise to prominence.
2. Ajax Basics – How to use XMLHttp, hidden frames, and more.
3. Ajax Patterns – Design patterns using Ajax, inspired by Ajax Patterns.
4. XML, XPath, and XSL – Information about XML and its related technologies and their uses in Ajax.
5. Syndication with RSS and Atom – Explores building an Ajax news aggregator.
6. Web Services – How to use Web services within Ajax applications.
7. JSON – Introduces JSON as an alternative to using XML for data transmission in Ajax solutions.
8. Web Site Widgets – Learn how to develop simple Ajax widgets that can be dropped into any Web site.
9. AjaxMail – Walks you through the creation of an Ajax Web-based e-mail system.
10. Ajax Frameworks – Covers Ajax frameworks for PHP, .NET, and JSP.

The book will cover server-side solutions in both PHP and .NET, with a little bit of JSP thrown into the mix towards the end.

Disclaimer: Any viewpoints and opinions expressed in this article are those of Nicholas C. Zakas and do not, in any way, reflect those of my employer, my colleagues, Wrox Publishing, O'Reilly Publishing, or anyone else. I speak only for myself, not for them.