The author, Jeremy Keith, makes a good tutor in his book Bulletproof Ajax which is aimed at website developers who are comfortable with (X)HTML and CSS and who want to build websites using Ajax. Throughout this step-by-step guide, his emphasis is on best practices with an approach to building Ajax pages called Hijax, which improves flexibility and avoids worst-case scenarios.

Mr Keith explains that Ajax is a very cool name which conjurs up images of strength ... as according to Greek Mythology Ajax was the son of Telamon and was a warrior famed for his strength and courage who also carried a big axe (possibly why he was so brave) ... Homer also mentioned the name Ajax in his Iliad ... then there was Telamonian Ajax and Ajax the Lesser who fought in the Trojan war ... a British battleship and Flash Gordan's rocket ship also carried the name as did numerous others ... A good solid name to describe a methodology which uses a cluster of technologies to allow developers and clients to talk about important aspects of usability and design in modern web applications ... or, a way of making an incredibly boring topic sound strong and exciting (sorry, sometimes I can't resist the temptation to make fun of us computer geeks).

Geeks aside, the book offers a huge learning curve for the Ajax newbie but it's all in the one place for once and an experienced developer / programmer will pick it up easily. The chapter headings show the big picture:

• What is Ajax
• JavaScript and the Document Object Model
• XMLHttpRequest
• Data Formats
• Hijax
• Ajax Challenges
• Ajax and Accessibility
• Putting it all Together
• The future of Ajax

The balance in this book comes from the fact that the author spends a lot of time explaining the origins of Ajax, it's pitfalls and common challenges (in a sub section called "dodging bullets" which made me smile) and then puts it all together for the reader / learner and along the way uses some excellent "in action" examples of code.

I like this book and it deservedly earns a thumbs up from me.