ASP.NET AJAX allows developers to choose their preferred method of AJAX development, whether it is server-side programming, client-side programming, or a combination of both.

Server-side AJAX Programming

Developers familiar with ASP.NET's server-side programming model can add AJAX functionality using the familiar server controls, and the convenient drag and drop gestures. For example, partial update functionality can be added to ASP.NET applications by wrapping sections of their websites in the AJAX server control 'UpdatePanel', which enables the server controls to update without a post back. This is as simple as AJAX programming gets. Developers don't have to learn about the underlying scripting or browser technologies. Based on the ASP.NET server side design patterns, developers continue to get key advantages such as a clean declarative model of specifying web page UI, an event-driven programming model, and a rich set of APIs from the .NET Framework.

Client-side AJAX Programming

Developers with a basic understanding of JavaScript can leverage client-side AJAX framework, that allows building client centric AJAX applications. For example, the client AJAX Framework allows developers to build rich client side components and controls and make calls to remote servers, including web services and then updating the Web page with the response. The response can be an HTML snippet or an XML document, allowing for simple or extensive updates to the Web page.

The Client side AJAX Framework works well with ASP.NET. The ASP.NET team also ships this framework independently as Microsoft AJAX Library. Since this framework is not tightly coupled with ASP.NET, it can be used with other server side technologies as well such as PHP and Cold Fusion.

ASP.NET AJAX Programming

ASP.NET AJAX shines in its ability to combine the best of server-side and client-side AJAX programming, providing Web applications with a user experience similar to the richness of traditional desktop applications. Watch some of the following videos to learn how simple it is to get started with ASP.NET AJAX programming.