Responsible Asynchronous Scripting

Shaun Inman writes a feature article on Vitamin titled Responsible Asynchronous Scripting. It's a short note that AJAX should not be used willy-nilly across the board, despite the Web 2.0 fad blowing about.

I remember when AJAX really picked up speed, and a couple really smart and respected people completely reinvented their websites to use AJAX and DOM scripting everywhere they could... only to dial it back to a reasonable level a couple weeks later.

I've been sitting on the sidelines, avoiding AJAX as I watch it being applied for purposes that did not, in my opinion, require it. There's a difference between making something easier to use and reinventing the wheel. However, I'm lately seeing less "How to use AJAX to do..." tutorials and more "When NOT to use AJAX and why..." articles. With documentation being drafted in that mentality, I think I will finally take a look.

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