One of the more enjoyable parts about writing my current Django app is thinking about all of the ways that Ajax could
make using it more painless for users who hate to wait for a page to reload.

I’m thinking, if the technology is there, and there are libraries available such as jQuery that make doing this client side magic so much easier, then it makes the most sense to pull the pressure off of the server, and “spread” more of the processing demands to the users’ own PC (i.e., their browser).

We get this offloading of demand, as we know, by the resultant decrease in page-loading, or such as things as creating HTML table sorting via pure javascript (i.e. tablesorter.com), instead of A.) refetching the data, B.) reloading the page again, just to sort it.

On the negative side, there are security concerns, such as detailed at:
www.maxkiesler.com/index.php/weblog/comments/javascript_and_ajax_security_how_to_make_your_website_safe/

On the one hand: You want them to experience a joyful, smooth ease when it comes to using your web-based app, but you know that there will be a certain number of users that will make the decision either to either enable javascript for your web site, or decide to turn away.

What’s the point of this entry? Who knows.

I do know that if I were creating a site that involved more delicate data than a simple list of items to shop for (http://fridgeclick.com), I’d hesitate way more when it comes to Ajax usage.

Delicious, Twitter, those types of sites - what are they risking by Ajax-ifying their sites. Not much.

Online Banking sites, obviously you’re running more into security concerns.