Web Development Solutions: Ajax, APIs, Libraries, and Hosted Services Made Easy - Softcover

Christian Heilmann; Mark Norman Francis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590598067 ISBN 13: 9781590598061

Publisher: Apress, 2007

Synopsis

As a web user, you'll no doubt have noticed some of the breathtaking applications available in today's modern web, such as Google Maps and Flickrdesktop applications than the old style web sites you are used to. You've probably also wished that you could create such things, and then thought "nahhh, I'd need to know a lot of complicated code to be able to even start creating sites like these." Well, think again.

There is a lot of complicated code involved in cutting-edge "Ajax-style" web applications, but a lot of the hard work is already done for you, and available on the Web. JavaScript libraries exist to provide most of that Ajax/DOM Scripting functionality out of the box. Application programming interfaces (APIs) exist to allow you to transplant complicated applications such as Google Maps and Flickr right into your own web sites. And hosting services such as Flickr and YouTube provide all you need to store and retrieve your media (be it images, video, or whatever) at your leisure, without having to worry about bandwidth issues and file naming nightmares.

All you need to know is enough to successfully wire together all this functionality successfully and responsibly, and this book shows you how. It starts from the very beginning of your journey, showing you what's available, what you need, and how to set up an effective development environment. After a solid base has been built, it shows you how to build up each aspect of your site, including storing, retrieving, and displaying content, adding images and video to your site, building effective site navigation and laying it all out beautifully using CSS, promoting your content so you will attract visitors to your site, and adding special effects to enhance usability and design asthetics...all with ready-made functionality available on the Web! Life as a web developer has never been easier.

About this title

Synopsis

Building "Web 2.0"/Ajax" applications is all the rage right now, and there is a lot of complicated code involved, but a lot of budding web developers don't realize that most of the hard work is already done for them, and available on the Web, through JavaScript libraries to provide most of that Ajax/DOM Scripting functionality out of the box, Application programming interfaces (APIs,) and hosting services such as Flickr and YouTube to provide all they need to easily store and retrieve their media (be it images, video, or whatever.) All the developer needs to know is enough to successfully wire together all this functionality successfully and responsibly, and this book shows you how. It assumes no knowledge at the start, showing how to set up an effective development environment, then moving on to building up a complete professional "Ajaxy"/"Web 2.0" site step by step, all using ready made functionality available on the web, including storing, retrieving, and displaying content, images and video, and effective site navigation, all topped off with a beautiful CSS layout. But it doesn't stop here.The reader is also shown how to promote their content to attract visitors to their site, and how to find a hosting partner.

The techniques contained within this book are becoming increasing more in demand by aspiring and existing web developers, all wanting to be a part of the new generation of the web.

About the Author

Christian Heilmann grew up in Germany and, after a year working with people with disabilities through the Red Cross, he spent a year as a radio producer. Beginning in 1997, he worked for several agencies in Munich as a web developer. In 2000, he moved to the U.S. to work for eToys and, after the dot-com crash, he moved to the U.K., where he currently works as a lead developer for Agilisys. He publishes an almost-daily blog at http://wait-till-i.com and runs an article repository at http://icant.co.uk. He is a member of the Web Standards Project's DOM Scripting Task Force.

Edition details

• Publisher: Apress
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1590598067
• ISBN 13: 9781590598061
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296