Ajax and Java at Odds

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Ajax is just two years old and developers can’t just stop talking about it. Maybe because it’s a new thing and anything new is always worth talking. The programming world is certainly excited to accept this newest addition of already extensive coding technique. Two years ago we were thinking that it could be something popular that will wane in a few months.

However, it showed resiliency and it’s even going stronger every month. Big names in the internet world has started coming up with toolkits that could help web developers and programmers create Ajax based sites and softwares. They even formed an OpenAjax Alliance to ensure that Ajax will be standardized and applied as much as possible. Ajax is a web technique that combines HTML, JavaScript and XML. But aside from its unique ability to wave them all together, the user’s responsibility of having a pre-installed software is removed. For example, there are websites that requires flash installed in a persons computer so that the website will actually run. But with Ajax complex coding, a program is not required to run the website. There are lots of websites right now that features the power of Ajax. Aside from that, as the process is only one way (asynchronous) the bandwidth requirement will not be so much compared to the two way (request/response) communication. But the effect of Ajax, especially in the mobile industry is overwhelming. Any web developers now are thinking of concentrating in Ajax more than anything else. If you read any news about mobile business, in most of these reports, iPhone is always there. With more than half a million sales in few months under their belt, it’s going to be the leader when it comes to the next best thing in the mobile industry. Bringing with the popularity of iPhone is also the next big thing in the programming industry – Ajax. Windows Mobile and Symbian may still be there but the threat is there. But there’s another program that’s getting a lot of heat because of the internet’s next big thing – Java. You have to remember that JavaScript is entirely different from Java even though they have the same name. In the internet world, Java is still launched in various programs but not acknowledged in a way that it’s already essential. To be honest, flash could even fare better with Java if they are launched properly. The only saving grace of Java in the mobile world is actually its games…for now. If you base the situation of Ajax in iPhone in terms of games and other applications, Java could still be useful since games are native in these phones. iPhones doesn’t allow additions but Ajax based programs could still be launched in their Safary browser. In toolkits, Java is saved by Google as the coding of the web toolkits still require Java and then it will just be translated to JavaScript. But we’ll never know when the update will come that doesn’t need to be translated since the coding will be in JavaScript. By that time, Java would just be another simple coding that will be part of Ajax.