A real beginner in AJAX

Hello.

First: I have never programmed any Websites. Well, everybody had done a little bit of HTML. But i did not use Perl, Javascript or similar...

Well... now my boss told me, I have to learn Ajax. Ok. I have read many articles, many howtos what ajax is. And in EVERY these articles the used language was JS.

Now my boss told me: Hey, why? Use C# oder Java. There are enough libraries, that you can use. The Server will generate the sites for you Webuser right out of your code. Best you use Java and eclipse...

Well... well... WHAT?

Please, I "started" with Ajax yesterday. I think I understand the functionality and, how it works, between Server an Client. But, how do I start with an simple "Hello World!" in a dialogbox? I need the knowhow for the Programmer... a little tutorial, that explains any smal step.

Is it enough to have an HP on strato? You really dont need somthing, linke tomcat oder apache?

What Do you need really to PROGRAMM an Ajaxsite?

Is it true or possible to write everythink in Java, and the libraries generates everything nessesary?

Thanks for any help.

In order to program AJAX, you need to know JavaScript and a server-side language. After all, it stands for Asynchronous JavaScript And XML. To get started with the client-side (JavaScript) part, take a look here.

After that, you will need to learn a server-side language. This could be PHP or ASP. There are more, but those are what I know. I will always chose PHP over ASP for many reasons.

As for Java, don't get it mixed up with JavaScript. They are two totally separate languages with some similar syntax. JavaScript is a client-side (internet browser) language. It was designed to make websites more interactive. Java is an object oriented language that I hate. It is very slow and I can accomplish what I need to without it.

All AJAX is is Javascript and XML (plus HTTP request), so AJAX as a programming language doesn't really exist, it's a combination of existing ones.

It's a shame that you haven't done any Javascript before as this would help a lot. But you've been put in a difficult position by your boss there, being expected to learn JS, XML and a server-sided language in a short space of time. Don't expect to pick all of this up overnight, it will take time and your boss can't really expect you to be producing top-quality websites strait away.

If I had to do this I would start looking at the tutorials on W3 schools. Look at the Javascript one first:

http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp

And then move on to the AJAX, as you can't really start AJAX without first learning Javascript:

http://www.w3schools.com/ajax/default.asp

You say you've done HTML, but are you familiar with the XHTML variant? Don't worry, it takes 2 minutes to learn. Basically the only notable differences are these:

1) You must close all tags, either like this <br></br> or like this <br /> (a closing and opening tag in one)
2) All tags must be in lower case.
3) Must have alt tags on images.

Good Luck