A code migration framework for AJAX applications

Abstract

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) defines a new paradigm for writing highly interactive web applications. Prominent web sites such as Google Maps have made AJAX popular. Writing AJAX applications requires intimate knowledge of JavaScript since it is difficult to write cross-browser portable JavaScript applications. In this paper we first discuss the benefits of AJAX compared to other technologies such as Java applets. Then we propose a code migration framework that allows the programmer to write AJAX applications in Java. The Java application is automatically translated to JavaScript and migrated to the browser for execution. Our approach requires no knowledge of JavaScript. As web applications are written in Java, the developer benefits from powerful debugging tools that are not available for JavaScript. We have implemented a prototype that demonstrates the feasibility of our ideas. The prototype is available under an Open Source license. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2006.