ok if C# 3.0 is not enough here comes ASP.NET "Atlas"

ASP.NET “Atlas” is a package of new Web development technologies that integrates an extensive set of client script libraries with the rich, server-based development platform of ASP.NET 2.0. “Atlas” enables you to develop Web applications that can update data on a Web page by making direct calls to a Web server — without needing to round trip the page. With “Atlas”, you can take advantage of the best of ASP.NET and server-side code while doing much of the work in the browser, enabling richer user experiences.

“Atlas” enables you to build applications with better performance than traditional Web applications in two key aspects — responsiveness and user interface (UI). Traditional Web applications require a round trip for updating data or controls, which can result in long waits. “Atlas”, on the other hand, dramatically improves application performance by reducing the need for round trips.

In addition, since “Atlas” performs much of the processing in the client, it enables you to build a richer UI giving users a superior user experience over traditional Web applications. Not only does “Atlas” give you the power to create all the controls and features users have come to expect from a rich UI (such as drag and drop, auto-completion, mouse hovering behavior, and more), but more importantly, it enables you to build interactive, data-bound controls that allow users to sort, update, or change their view of data with few or no round trips to the server.

While ASP.NET “Atlas” is both a new package of technologies and a new approach, it is consistent with the concept of developing applications using Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX). ”Atlas” applications are cross-platform and will run with little or no change in any modern browser. Examples of “Atlas” style applications include Microsoft's Virtual Earth site, Microsoft's Outlook Web Access e-mail client, and Start.com.

Creating AJAX-based Web applications is complex and requires extensive knowledge of client script. Thus, “Atlas” is not merely another implementation of AJAX. Instead, “Atlas” extends the AJAX concept in two significant ways. First, the “Atlas” client script libraries dramatically simplify the tasks of creating rich UIs and remote procedures calls by providing you with true object-oriented APIs and components for Atlas development. Second, “Atlas” extends the AJAX concept by providing a rich, integrated server development platform in ASP.NET 2.0. The “Atlas” server components include ASP.NET Web services and server controls that enable you to take advantage of the power of ASP.NET, such as the ASP.NET profiles service, in an “Atlas” application.

Overall, "Atlas" is about simplifying AJAX development and incorporating AJAX concepts into the typical Web application development process. The ASP.NET “Atlas” package of client and server-side development tools and components is a significant evolution and enhancement of the AJAX concept. The PDC materials — the Hands-On Labs, the “Atlas” QuickStart tutorials, and the keynote addresses — will help you to discover the power of the “Atlas” concept and its potential to transform the way you build Web applications.

 

 

 

I actually watched the webcast about Atlas from the last PDC and in it Microsoft never really denied about how they "improved" (read stole) on the ideas of AJAX.

What's new anyway? Microsoft is known for "improving" the ideas of others. AS a developer, I think of it this way: it's for the greater good. To re-phrase Newton: "The reason we can write better software is because we are standing on the shoulders of giants (from Redmond or otherwise)"

lets cheers to that! hehehe...

cmerioles wrote:

I actually watched the webcast about Atlas from the last PDC and in it Microsoft never really denied about how they "improved" (read stole) on the ideas of AJAX.

The AJAX - it's just the new modern word. But all it's methods technologies (Dynamic HTML, DOM, XMLHTTP object) was introduced by Microsoft in browser IE 4.0 (it's almost 10 years ago already!)

(calumny - it's a bad thing!!!)

 

I apsolutly agree with you runner, I think that all this mess with cool words "AJAX" or "Atlas" is just unnesecery becouse all of this technologies was there for quite a time.

I am always looking forward when Microsoft improves some "new technology" and add it to Visual Studio for us developers. We don't need to look how did Microsoft found it or from which simular technology is that made. We have to take benifit from that :)

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armin ;)

AJAX is indeed an old technology initially introduced by Microsoft, but their game stopped there. With Atlas they just try to re-catch their own train. script.aculo.us is already far away... http://mir.aculo.us/articles/2005/09/15/hello-atlas-auto-complexion. Here are the demos: http://wiki.script.aculo.us/scriptaculous/show/Demos.

Looked on your demos. And what's so new there??? 3 years ago I have made a web-page for out intranet, which is able to parse xml file, generate list, drug and drop support, update from server via xmlhttp - all these using DHTML + JS.

That's what I am saying - that AJAX is nothing new *but* script.aculo.us makes it much easyer to use. I don't think you could do AJAX-autocompletition in *one line* three years ago. (Yeah, I know this comes with ASP.NET 2.0 also).
Anyway, Atlas tries to do just the same thing as script.aculo.us - that is my point.

I think Atlas would be cool if applications written entirely in asp.net could be automatically be made to use ajax by flipping a switch. It seems like all post backs could be made to use httprequest since the framework would be aware of all ASP and HTML controls in the page. As it stands, I have to agree with the posters here, and give Atlas very minimal style points as extending an already well know paradigm. I wonder how Atlas will fare accross mixed browers, OS, proxy and other hostile non-MS environs.

Atlas isn't an AJAX rip-off. It's a front-end for the ASP.NET IDE so that asp.net developers don't have to write AJAX calls by hand.

And Microsoft's web developers were actually the first ones to use AJAX -- it just wasn't called that at the time.

From wikipedia: The first component to allow client-side script to issue HTTP requests (XMLHTTP) was originally written by the Outlook Web Access team.