As a follow up to my last post about javascript libraries, I'm now reading "Bulletproof AJAX" by Jeremy Keith. I'm pleased with what I've been seeing in javascript lately. Javascript developers have definitely caught the open source bug, and I hope this will lead the primary browser developers to continue to work towards accepting standards (don't want to mention any names cough cough Microsoft!).
I just read a few pages and I'm glad I'm reading it. It reinforces my feeling that raw XML handling is not the best javascript. It there were better XSL support, I might be into it, but there isn't, so while libraries like taconite look good, server side solutions to produce json look good too. I've flip-flopped on this issue a few times to say the least, and I think it might make sense to choose on a case by case basis.
At any rate, my thoughts about javascript and AJAX have reminded me how I've avoided object persistence on the server side too long. I've patched the need for it by leaning on the database, but that isn't too helpful. If I get the chance today I hope I can read up on object persistence in PHP and python. If anyone has any pointers - please share! Thanks.
I also just jumped ahead to the section on "Progressive Enhancement" - which in the preview is one of the reasons why I chose this book. It reminded me of the way I like to develop: start simple and basic, make sure that objective tasks can be completed, then improve the user interface to make the processes faster and more intuitive. This process is a whole lot easier when dog-fooding! :-)