Ajax Overview: Part 1

Once again, an overview for me (and those IT inclined who care) about another technology... Ajax.

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX)
A collection of technologies, Ajax is an essentially element of Web 2.0, in its ability to communicate with servers in the background without the necessity of refreshing the client browser. Perfect example: Google Suggest. As you type each letter, without refreshing the page, often searched Google terms are displayed for a user to select.

Asynchronous: A request is made to the server, but does not wait for a response. However, upon a server response, the browser is able to handle the request.

JavaScript: The programming language used to communicate with the server and handle incoming data requests.

XML: One of text-based communication languages used as part of Ajax for receipt of messages. However, plain text and other text-based languages such as Dynamic HTML and CSS can also be used. This would allow an Ajax-endabled website to only refresh a portion of a page, displaying the desired results.