What is AJAX? Advantages & Disadvantages of Ajax?

For web developers, the “Ajax” term is quite a common tech jargon over the past few years due to its increasing application in practice.

Though the use of Ajax technology for web applications is simple, it shows excellent development potential. For a deeper understanding, let’s discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Ajax. Plus, find out some practices of Ajax technology in Magento 2.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

What is Ajax?

It won’t take much time for us to have a quick look at the definition of Ajax. At the most basic level, the acronym of Ajax is Asynchronous JavaScrip and XML.

You can understand it as a set of web development techniques that are used to create better and faster web applications via the use of XML, HTML, CSS, Javascript.

In other words, web applications apply Ajax technology to send and retrieve data from a server without interrupting the display of the existing page.

AJAX Cart for Magento 2

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Advantages of AJAX

Boost Performance

One of the most outstanding features of AJAX is the ability to retrieve data from the server without the need to refresh the page. Thanks to it, the request traffic on your servers will be reduced significantly, speeding up loading time and improving user experience. And you know what the best part is? It’s the user experience is not interrupted at all.

AJAX lets web pages update content without reloading the whole page, creating a faster and smoother experience, much like using a desktop app.

Fasten Response Times

By sending only the necessary data to the server, AJAX minimizes bandwidth usage, making it easier and quicker to fetch required information and enhancing website loading speeds.

Reduce Server Load

AJAX fetches and updates only the needed data asynchronously, reducing the amount of data exchanged between client and server. This results in lower server load and more efficient resource utilization, even for applications handling large datasets or frequent updates.

Enable Asynchronous Calls

AJAX also allows asynchronous data fetching, ensuring that users can interact with the application seamlessly while information is being processed in the background.

Improve User Experience

With AJAX, you can update specific sections of a web page dynamically without reloading the entire page. This enables quick, uninterrupted interactions, such as submitting forms or loading new data, delivering a desktop-like, responsive experience that feels intuitive and gratifying.

Disadvantages of Ajax

Depend on JavaScript

AJAX relies heavily on JavaScript for server communication. If a user disables JavaScript in their browser, they won’t experience AJAX features like faster load times or dynamic updates.

More Complicated

Developing with AJAX can be challenging, especially for developers unfamiliar with asynchronous programming, increasing the complexity of web projects.

SEO Limitations

Dynamically loaded AJAX content can be difficult for search engines to index, potentially impacting the site’s search engine rankings.

Security Risks

Without proper safeguards, AJAX applications are vulnerable to security threats such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and cross-site request forgery (CSRF).

Back Button And Bookmarking Problems

AJAX-driven content changes often don’t update the URL, which can cause issues with browser back buttons and bookmarking, leading to a less intuitive user experience.

The application of Ajax for Magento 2

Ajax can be utilized in many cases where small amounts of data should be stored or received from the server without having to reload the whole page. Thus, web owners can deliver a far more seamless experience when browsing the entire store.

Still, developing a feature for web applications from scratch can cost time and effort. But don’t worry since there are many well-built extensions using Ajax technology out there.

All you need to do is download and install the modules that fit your needs to use. So below are some extensions with the usage of Ajax technologies for your Magento 2 stores.

Magento 2 Lazy Loading

data-src=”https://cdn2.mageplaza.com/media/blog/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-ajax/lazy-loading-for-m2.webp” src=”https://placehold.co/1298x792?text=M” alt=”Lazy Loading for Magento 2”>

As mentioned earlier, lazy loading is a term given to Ajax coding used to speed up the rendering process on a website. A Magento 2 Lazy Loading extension, as its name suggests, improves the web load speed by displaying web images only at the demanding time.

The Lazy Loading module applies the Ajax technology for loading images. In particular, the module helps you:

• Reduce the time loading unnecessary images: Only images within the customer’s viewable part of the page will be loaded.
• Prioritize important pages: Allow merchants to choose which page to apply Lazy Loading.
• Offer diverse loading effects: Make your shopping experience more fun by providing various effects, including transparent, blur, and low resolution.
• Set loading point time: Admins can use the threshold parameter to set up image loading time, making it load earlier than Magento default.

These feature benefits eCommerce websites significantly in giving customers a frictionless browsing experience.

Lazy Loading for Magento 2

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Magento 2 Ajax Layered Navigation

Having the same merchandise as Lazy Loading, Magento 2 Ajax Layered Navigation helps merchants cut down a great deal of time on page loading.

The Ajax technology used in this module improves web responsiveness and delivers faster loading on every touchpoint.

Read more:

• How to Setup Ajax Load More Products in Magento 2?

Magento 2 Ajax Cart extension

If the Magento 2 Lazy Loading focuses on optimizing the image load speed, Ajax Cart for Magento 2 delivers a better shopping experience when customers come to the shopping cart.

Specifically, your customers can instantly select and add products to their cart via an add-to-cart popup. Of course, this popup is built using Ajax technology. It’s included in:

• Add to Cart

• Add to Compare

• Add to Wishlist

With this module, you can enhance customers’ shopping experience on a user-friendly shopping site effortlessly.

Magento 2 Ajax Search

The Magento 2 Ajax Search extension allows consumers to get auto-complete search results as soon as they enter a word in the search field.

The search results will be shown in a drop-down list right under the search field and include all essential info of each suggested items, particularly:

• Image
• Product name
• Price
• A short description
• Rating and review
• SKU

This feature is hugely beneficial for web visitors since they can quickly and conveniently find their wanted products.

Search Extension for Magento 2

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The bottom line!

It’s undeniable that Ajax technology gives online businesses a new approach and method to communicate with a web page in a way that effectively improves user experience.

We hope that this guide will assist you in learning and utilizing it effectively. Thank you for taking the time to read this!