The XMLHttpRequest Object
With an XMLHttpRequest you can communicate with your server from inside a web page.
What is the XMLHttpRequest Object?
The XMLHttpRequest object is the developer’s dream , because you can:
Update a web page with new data without reloading the page
Request and receive new data from a server after the page has loaded
Communicate with a server in the background
XMLHttpRequest Example
When you type in the input box below, an HTTP request is sent to the server and
name suggestions are returned from a name list:
Type a letter in the input box:
First Name
Suggestions:
Creating an XMLHttpRequest Object
Creating an XMLHttpRequest object is done with one single line of JavaScript.
In all modern browsers:
var xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest()
In older Microsoft browsers (IE 5 and 6):
var xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP")
In the next chapter, we will use the XMLHttpRequest object to retrieve XML
information from a server.
The XMLHttpRequest object is supported in all modern browsers
Is the XMLHttpRequest Object a W3C Standard?
The XMLHttpRequest object is not specified in any W3C recommendation.
However, the W3C DOM Level 3 "Load and Save" specification contains some similar functionality, but these are not implemented in any browsers yet.
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