Implementing AJAX in ASP.NET - Background

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) has recently become the craze thanks, in no small part, to Google’s usage of it in Google Suggest as well as Google Maps . In ASP.NET terms, AJAX allows server-side processing to occur without requiring postback, thus enabling clients (browsers) with rich server-side capabilities. In other words it provides a framework for asynchronously dispatching and processing requests and responses from the server. AJAX leverages a number of existing technologies, which aren't particularly new, however fondness for what these technologies have to offer (collectively, they are AJAX) has recently soared.