Keith's also impressive because, as a good marketing guy, he manages to sneak in his product's name into nearly every answer. Even so, since his answers are quite interesting, this is still a must-read article.

David: We've covered SOA and XML in DominoPower, but we haven't yet covered AJAX. What exactly is AJAX?

Keith: AJAX is an acronym for Asynchronous Java And XML, and represents a group of various technologies and methodologies for developing new, highly interactive and user-centric Web applications. With AJAX technologies, the developer concentrates on providing a rich user interface for the end-user, and by exchanging data with the Web application server utilizing common XML (Extensible Markup Language) data.

David: Why is AJAX important?

Keith: AJAX is important because it allows developers to quickly and easily develop powerful new Web applications based upon common standards that are well documented and portable. The end result is applications that create a highly productive environment for the end-user.

David: When I visited your Web site, I noticed you talk about Web 2.0 solutions. Web 2.0 is a buzzword getting a lot of use lately. What does Web 2.0 mean to you?

Keith: While the term Web 2.0 can mean many things to many people, especially with regards to the various technologies and methodologies that are used, most people agree on a key aspect of what Web 2.0 encompasses.

Previous generations of applications or solutions (Web 1.0) used the Web/Internet merely as a transport or communication mechanism. Web sites and applications were disjointed, typically unrelated, and a browser would access one site or application and then the next.

As we evolve to the Web 2.0 environment, the Web actually becomes part of the computing platform for applications. Services and/or applications are distributed throughout the Web and accessible and shared by everyone. Applications are actually part of the Web, not the desktop.

This environment generates significant increases in network traffic, amount of data, types of data (XML), all of which cause performance issues. Solutions like the Stampede Web 2.0 Performance Series provide an infrastructure to mitigate the issues created by these new technologies and application paradigms.