Creating a MySQL Client with AJAX to Administer Databases from the Web
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In this first article of a three-part series, I’ll show you in a friendly fashion how to create the front end of an extensible MySQL client application that uses AJAX to send queries to a selected database in the background.
A downloadable file for this article is available
here.
Introduction
To be frank, how many times have you found yourself lately wondering how your life as a web developer would be different without using the cool features of AJAX ? If you're anything like me, then probably the answer is that at least a dozen times, that idea made your head spin for a while. AJAX is here to stay, and certainly has changed considerably the way that many web applications are developed these days.
Although this may not be breaking news to experienced web developers that work on a daily basis with AJAX, one thing that really amazes me is the steady evolution of several development frameworks that include, among other nice features, the possibility of working directly with AJAX to create richer web applications.
In addition, it should be considered that many developers don't use pre-built AJAX libraries to tackle most of their web projects, and as a consequence, they use their own JavaScript routines for triggering HTTP requests in the background.
However, I'm quite sure that there's one point on which you'll agree with me, no matter what approach you've been using recently for building AJAX-based programs. It's that there's a plethoric range of truly interactive web applications that can be created, only from knowing the basics of how JavaScript-based HTTP requests work.
Indeed, the cool functionality provided by HTTP requester objects makes it possible to construct desktop-like applications that were inconceivable a few years ago (at least in the context of a web browser), a fact that I'll take advantage of during the course of this three-part series. Of course, if you read this article's title carefully, then you probably guessed my intentions.
As I said before, in this set of tutorials I'll essentially show you how to build up a highly expandable MySQL client application, which will be capable of running select, insert, update and delete commands against a selected database, all by using a simple front end, along with some comprehensive AJAX routines. Do you like the sound of that?
Assuming that the AJAX-driven MySQL client that I plan to create here has caught your attention, it's time to move on and begin creating the basic front end that I mentioned above. Curious about how this story continues? Well, don't waste any more time; start reading to learn more!
Next: Defining a simple user interface >>
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