The Ajax request object

I'm curious about XMLHttpRequest and have a few questions.

  1. Is it accurate to say that this is not a JavaScript object, but rather an object that is inherent to the browser? I find it intriguing how browsers can possess "native objects." Are there any other native objects that browsers have?

  2. It appears that XMLHttpRequest existed prior to Ajax. If that's the case, what was its original purpose?

  3. This object has 5 attributes: readyState, status, onreadystatechange, responseText, responseXml. It's interesting to note that all are in lower camel case, except for onreadystatechange. Why might that be?

Answer №1

XMLHttpRequest was initially introduced by IE, but eventually made its way into other browsers like Firefox.

In the past, Microsoft utilized the XMLHttpRequest object for its own purposes.

It wasn't until around 2005 that the true potential of the XMLHttpRequest object was realized, allowing for asynchronous data posting to the server without impacting the user's browsing experience.

The term AJAX was born out of the usage of XMLHttpRequest.

XMLHttpRequest serves as the foundation of AJAX, a combination of this object along with XML and JS (although some might argue that JSON is now more commonly used than XML).

Answer №2

  1. For optimal performance, many of the built-in objects/types in JavaScript are classified as native objects/types. Some are specifically related to native features and must be native objects/types, though they can still be accessed through JavaScript with wrappers.

  2. XMLHttpRequest serves as the foundation of AJAX, which initially started as a buzzword due to XHR before evolving into a concept synonymous with "dynamic, visually appealing, user-friendly client-side webpages".

  3. The naming convention for events follows camel case, such as "onclick" and "onmouseover", while methods use camel case. Pascal case is typically used for type conversions and classes, as seen in examples like "XMLHttpRequest".

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