Ajax
Ajax (shorthand for asynchronous JavaScript + XML) is a group of interrelated web development techniques used on the client-side to create interactive web applications. With Ajax, web applications can retrieve data from the server asynchronously in the background without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing page. The use of Ajax techniques has led to an increase in interactive or dynamic interfaces on web pages. Data is usually retrieved using the XMLHttpRequest object. Despite the name, the use of JavaScript and XML is not actually required, nor do the requests need to be asynchronous.

Ajax is not a technology in itself, but a group of technologies. Ajax uses a combination of:

1. HTML and CSS for marking up and styling information.
2. The DOM accessed with JavaScript to dynamically display and interact with the information presented.
3. A method for exchanging data asynchronously between browser and server, thereby avoiding page reloads. The XMLHttpRequest (XHR) object is usually used, but sometimes an IFrame object or a dynamically added <script> tag is used instead.
4. A format for the data sent to the browser. Common formats include XML, pre-formatted HTML, plain text, and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). This data could be created dynamically by some form of server-side scripting.

Ajax Technologies
The term Ajax has come to represent a broad group of web technologies that can be used to implement a web application that communicates with a server in the background, without interfering with the current state of the page. In the article that coined the term Ajax, Jesse James Garrett explained that the following technologies are required:

1. XHTML and CSS for presentation
2. the Document Object Model for dynamic display of and interaction with data
3. XML and XSLT for the interchange, and manipulation and display, of data, respectively
4. the XMLHttpRequest object for asynchronous communication
5. JavaScript to bring these technologies together

Since then, however, there have been a number of developments in the technologies used in an Ajax application, and the definition of the term Ajax. In particular, it has been noted that:

1. JavaScript is not the only client-side scripting language that can be used for implementing an Ajax application. Other languages such as VBScript are also capable of the required functionality.However JavaScript is the most popular language for Ajax programming due to its inclusion in and compatibility with the majority of modern web browsers.
2. XML is not required for data interchange and therefore XSLT is not required for the manipulation of data. JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is often used as an alternative format for data interchange, although other formats such as preformatted HTML or plain text can also be used.

Classic Ajax involves writing ad hoc JavaScript on the client. A simpler if cruder alternative is to use standard JavaScript libraries that can partially update a page, such as ASP.Net's UpdatePanel. Tools such as Echo2 and ZK enable fine grained control of a page from the server, using only standard JavaScript libraries.

Ajax Framework
An Ajax framework is a framework that helps to develop web applications that use Ajax, a collection of technologies used to build dynamic web pages on the client side. Data is read from the server or sent to the server by JavaScript requests. However, some processing at the server side may be required to handle requests, such as finding and storing the data. This is accomplished more easily with the use of a framework dedicated to process Ajax requests. The goal of the framework is to provide the Ajax engine and associated server and client-side functions.

A framework eases the work of the Ajax programmer at two levels: on the client side, it offers JavaScript functions to send requests to the server. On the server side, it processes the requests, searches for the data, and transmits them to the browser. Some frameworks are very elaborate and provide a complete library to build web applications.

Drawbacks of Ajax

1. Ajax interfaces are substantially harder to develop properly than static pages.
2. Pages dynamically created using successive Ajax requests do not automatically register themselves with the browser's history engine, so clicking the browser's "back" button may not return the user to an earlier state of the Ajax-enabled page, but may instead return them to the last full page visited before it. Workarounds include the use of invisible IFrames to trigger changes in the browser's history and changing the anchor portion of the URL (following a #) when Ajax is run and monitoring it for changes.
3. Dynamic web page updates also make it difficult for a user to bookmark a particular state of the application. Solutions to this problem exist, many of which use the URL fragment identifier (the portion of a URL after the '#') to keep track of, and allow users to return to, the application in a given state.
4. Because most web crawlers do not execute JavaScript code,[14] publicly indexable web applications should provide an alternative means of accessing the content that would normally be retrieved with Ajax, to allow search engines to index it.
5. Any user whose browser does not support JavaScript or XMLHttpRequest, or simply has this functionality disabled, will not be able to properly use pages which depend on Ajax. Similarly, devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, and screen readers may not have support for the required technologies. Screen readers that are able to use Ajax may still not be able to properly read the dynamically generated content.The only way to let the user carry out functionality is to fall back to non-JavaScript methods. This can be achieved by making sure links and forms can be resolved properly and do not rely solely on Ajax. In JavaScript, form submission could then be halted with "return false".
6. The same origin policy prevents some Ajax techniques from being used across domains, although the W3C has a draft of the XMLHttpRequest object that would enable this functionality.
7. Ajax opens up another attack vector for malicious code that web developers might not fully test for.
8. Ajax-powered interfaces may dramatically increase the number of user-generated requests to web servers and their back-ends (databases, or other). This can lead to longer response times and/or additional hardware needs.
9. User interfaces can be confusing or behave inconsistently when normal web patterns are not followed.

Reverse Ajax
Reverse Ajax refers to an Ajax design pattern that uses long-lived HTTP connections to enable low-latency communication between a web server and a browser. Basically it is a way of sending data from client to server and a mechanism for pushing server data back to the browser.

This server-client communication takes one of two forms:

1. Client polling, the client repetitively queries (polls) the server and waits for an answer.
2. Server pushing, a connection between a server and client is kept open, the server sends data when available.

Reverse Ajax describes the implementation of either of these models, or a combination of both. The design pattern is also known as Ajax Push, Full Duplex Ajax and Streaming Ajax.