Speeding Up Data Submission

The goal of building an Ajax based application is to ensure that interactivity of the site to the user is highly optimized. One of the main features of Ajax is to create an application that should predict what the user actually needs.

As the user key in a letter, the application will communicate to the server which in turn returns with the suggestion. It is a real time interaction with user, providing ease of data transfer since the server knows the information the user needs.

As the user key in the data needed, the server provides the suggestion while preparing the information at the same time. The result is a fast, real time interaction with the user.

However, this activity in Ajax becomes very stressful to the server. The most difficult part of the real time interaction is the hardware requirement of an Ajax based application. The developer will easily get the best of the server if data fetching is based on real time interaction.

The power of Ajax is not based on the bandwidth of the user only but also on the power of the server. In an HTML based website, the developer would just have to work on the software while the hardware requirement is not that much.

Time Based Data Fetching

An option for building an Ajax based application without stressing the server too much is to use time based data fetching. Instead of constantly bothering the server with data request, the developer would just set a specific time when will the data be fetched.

It is a smart way of data fetching since it also evaluates the user activity while collecting data. If the client side is idle, the application will work harder in data fetching and transfer and it will also limit itself when the client side is still busy with the request.

This type of data fetching is actually a radical idea for an Ajax application. Building an Ajax application is all about real time interaction with the user. Using time based response is not an Ajax idea and would even contradict it.

On the other hand, using time based data fetching for Ajax is not really that bad since time based data fetching will only be delayed by milliseconds. Since it is less than a second, the user will never notice the difference.

The only difference is that there is no prediction from the server. But since it fetches the server only once rather than constantly stressing it for information, the server could breathe and deliver the needed information faster.

A Word of Caution

This type of data fetching may give time for the server to breathe but not for the user. Without any predictive interaction from the server, the user might not be given the right information which could be catastrophic for the application.

This type of data fetching could be used for smaller projects. If a very important application is developed, the traditional, real time interaction is still recommended to ensure on time delivery with accuracy in mind.