Programming ASP.NET AJAX

Chapter 22. Using ASP.NET AJAX with Other Server Technologies

As discussed at the outset of this book in Chapter 1, ASP.NET AJAX includes both client-side and server-side components. The ASP.NET AJAX server components rely heavily on ASP.NET 2.0 controls, but the client components are delivered as JavaScript libraries. Even though the client libraries are embedded into pages by the <script> tag that references WebResource.axd, the libraries are actually standalone .js files that come in the form of embedded resources in the ASP.NET AJAX Library.

The Microsoft AJAX Library was also first mentioned in Chapter 1. It is a JavaScript-only subset of the ASP.NET AJAX Library. But as it has no dependency on ASP.NET, this library can also be used with any other server-side scripting language.

By using this library, you can take advantage of some ASP.NET AJAX features while using other (non-ASP.NET) server technologies. You are not limited to just the client scripting features of ASP.NET AJAX, but you can also use its more advanced server features. However, to implement ASP.NET AJAX functionality on platforms other than ASP.NET 2.0 and IIS, some of the ASP.NET AJAX functionality and certain server controls (i.e., ScriptManager), need to be emulated with non-ASP.NET technology.

This chapter demonstrates how to use the ASP.NET AJAX web services support with PHP. The code for it has come a long way. Initially, Shanku Niyogi wrote a demonstration version and published it in his blog (see the "