AJAX A-Miss?
In the web community, new technology is something that is part of daily life. Technology is exciting, but one thing that I’ve noticed is that often people get too excited about it; using it just to use it, instead of waiting for a suitable application.
When a problem comes up, a lot of people don’t think, “Wow, this sure would be easier with (technology A)!” It’s more that they are looking for an excuse to use (technology A), even if it’s not the best tool in the situation.
Let’s bring AJAX into the picture. I have seen people attempt to use it for a task such as switching between 3 banner images on a site. Now, if you know ahead of time what images you are using, this same task can be done more easily with JavaScript. Using AJAX in this situation not only uses more bandwidth and server resources, but also makes the code needlessly complex.
While it is exciting to learn new technologies, one must keep in mind that technology is a tool. A tool can work wonderfully if used correctly. A hammer does a great job and hammering in a nail, but not nearly as good of job at making a tasty gazpacho.
New technologies are around to make life easier…it’s just sometimes hard to muster the patience for a chance to use them that way.