Ajax

AJAX and PHP: Building Responsive Web Applications
$34.99
It was easy to follow the first few chapters then they expect you to already know several other subjects before you can even understand the rest. I used [...] tutorials to get through the stuff that wasn't covered. Even after that it really didn't dig deep enough into fancy effects associated with AJAX.

Ajax in Action
$44.95
So you are going to read a book about Ajax and wonder if does make sense to read this one or another one like Ajax in Practice from Manning, or Head Rush Ajax, Professional Ajax, Pro Ajax and Java Frameworks to note only a few.
If you decide to have a look at this one, take care: the material is really deep. Definitely it is not an "instant" style like "for dummies" or "in 10 minutes", so if you think you will be an Ajax expert after reading 10 pages just
have a look at another one, this one is really for someone who understand that in order to be an expert you have to sweat.
The book starts out talking about key concepts like why Ajax, what is Ajax, what are the alternatives to Ajax, what is CSS, what is DOM, what does it mean to load the data in a browser using an asynchronous way, MVC concepts applied to a web server and some common patterns like Observer, Command or Fa���ade.
Ok now you might already have a clear vision of Ajax basis and the world in which Ajax lives, so let's see the core techniques, and this is what the
authors present starting with the second part, just core techniques.
A few key points: if we look at a page as an application with all the MVC in a page than what is the role of a server, how to code the server side,
do we need to use frameworks for the server side and how we can exchange data.

The book is not really a practical book with pre-build examples ready to be applied, is much more oriented to the theory of Ajax and
assumes a certain level of competency, so the examples are almost all only partial or abstracted.

Starting on the 3rd part we finally see some common examples like keeping the user informed, indicating the freshness of data or designing a notification system.
But this part is not intended to offer only examples, but to be a complete support to someone who already knows the basic and expects a professional view of Ajax.
So now it is supposed to have all the info to create something from zero to the end. Well ...almost to the end because only the end of this part we will see how to add security and how to design for performance.
Now you have all the info about Ajax and want to start your own coding. The book is here to help you: just read the last part, a kind of "by example" full of examples.

Overall, the book is written in an academic manner: intro, theory, examples that prove the theory , advanced stuff, examples for the advanced stuff, practical examples. Nothing new in terms of composition.
My advice: if you like this traditional style, you want a solid background and you have the time and ability to read 600 pages , just do it , you will not regret any single page. Otherwise if you are under pressure, my advice is to read Ajax in Practice, by Manning too.

Bulletproof Ajax
$39.99
This is a good book to start learning AJAX from. It covers the main principles and goes through beginner to semi-intermediate levels. It contains good enough information to grasp what AJAX really is, but falls short on anything more than basic. It won't get you writing AJAX code for the mere fact that this book is quite preliminary in standards. So to make a true benefit from this one, try to incorporate it with another, beginner to intermediate level (as this is super-beginner).

The good thing about it is that the author doesn't assume any prior AJAX knowledge about you, but it DOES require you to be familiar with the DOM (and consequently basic JS), otherwise you're wasting you time.

Building a Web Site with Ajax: Visual QuickProject Guide
$19.99
Generally I find the Visual QuickProduct series quite useful and well organized. They are for those who want to just scratch the surface though, so some more-in-depth material is useful if you want to get down to the nuts and bolts of an application. This particular Visual QuickProject has one slight flaw in that it presents each project step by step - usually each step occupies two or more pages - so you have flip back and forth to put the steps together to get the big picture. The projects are generically useful and cover many areas where AJAX is a useful tool.