AHAH vs AJAX

One of the best thing about the hype created by AJAX was the reaction of other developers. Of course, there are individuals they are willing to build an alternative for every hype which is usually considered as a rip-off of the original hyped programming. Such programs frequently fail even before it gets started. For example, just look at different web-based office applications since zoho.com made a mark. Though lots of alternatives are available, almost none came even close. But when you transfer this situation to AJAX, the result is actually different.

Let us consider AHAH which stands for Asynchronous HTML over HTTP. Just like Ajax, it does not just use a single language. It is a combination of JavaScript and HTML. If you are looking for XML, it is not used in AHAH which is one of the biggest difference between AHAH and AJAX. Instead of getting an XML as a reply from the server, AHAH receives a reply in HTML format. Compared to XML there is no need to configure the browser to read HTML since all browsers in the first place are built to read this specific type of program. It is simpler and definitely faster.

Since AHAH use HTML as a response, you can actually fetch another HTML, load it in your sever and use it as a custom response. There are so many things you can do with HTML that is already preloaded with the server and the information it can be displayed is almost endless. You can even re-use already built websites and load them in your website easily. Using other functions in JavaScript, you would practically have a better program since each part could still be refreshed without changing the whole webpage.

However, there are some limitations that developers may encounter in AHAH. I found this program and have not really tried it myself but based on what I saw, the program could only process text information. Based on the configuration, there are no other programs or images posted and I think there will never be additional pictures. The only thing possible in HTML is when you link the picture to a program. That should come in handy but you may have to link a lot just to ensure the webpage works well.

Another downside of this program is that when you compare AJAX to AHAH in building applications. There are tons of applications that are now Ajax based because of its efficiency in using JavaScript. The XML response from the server makes it even possible to transmit different types of data. AHAH is virtually impossible to work with when you are considering a function that will not be browser based. But Ajax is not supposed to be used in browsers either. The browser just limits Ajax capability.

AHAH is a great alternative when you are planning to build browser based applications especially with full of data. Instead of relying on Ajax which is heavily coded, AHAH ensures that the JavaScript is used in browsers at its optimum level.