Microsoft’s AJAX framework has the potential to lure .NET developers into the AJAX camp, says Ron Schmelzer, senior analyst and founder of ZapThink, because it leverages much of the existing technology for asynchronous distributed computing they already know. Furthermore, it allows organizations, not only to build distributed applications using browser-based technologies, but also finally to migrate their client-server apps to a richer browser environment.

“What Microsoft brings to the table is the millions of .NET and VB developers who are very familiar with the Microsoft environment, Schmelzer says, “but need to be brought into the AJAX fold. In the past, ActiveX filled the role of client-side logic in the browser, but this role has been diminished significantly by the much more heterogeneous, lighter weight, and wider coding base of JavaScript, XML, and DHTML that forms the core of most AJAX-based systems.”

Read more at: Application Development Trends