Ajax is an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Traditional web applications refresh the entire page when a form is submitted or some other user interaction necessitates that additional content be pulled from the server. Ajax uses JavaScript calls to the XMLHttpRequest object to retrieve information from a server asynchronously, without the need for the entire page to be refreshed. This enables a much richer user interface environment, such as pulling an image from the server in response to the user moving the mouse over a tab. Ajax interaction can include pulling information from a variety of other servers using Ajax to call web services. Structured functional testing and usability testing are critical to ensuring that Ajax applications meet user expectations. For more reading, see Wikipedia or Ajax at the Open Directory Project.
Flash is a multimedia plug-in currently installed on the vast majority of browsers. Typical usage of Flash on web sites includes animated vector graphics splash screens, streaming video, and Internet games. Flash’s functionality, including the ActionScript language, allows for the development of web sites based solely on Flash, which provides for a very rich Internet application. A Flash-related technology, Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), allows Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) to be deployed on the desktop. One challenge with Flash is the difficulty of developing automation scripts for testing. As Flash is a runtime environment, its objects are hidden from any external automation framework. However, in a non-compiled environment, Adobe does provide an automation framework. More information is available at Wikipedia or Adobe's Flash page.
Silverlight is a cross-platform Rich Internet Application runtime released by Microsoft. It uses an XML-based markup language called XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language). In many ways, XAML plays a role similar to HTML, albeit with a dramatically more robust set of vector and raster graphics capabilities, as well as a rich set of user interface controls. Silverlight objects can be manipulated programmatically in the client using JavaScript, and Silverlight object events can trigger JavaScript event handlers. QualityLogic has extensive experience with XAML through our development of test suites for the XAML subset XPS. Although Silverlight does not have the large installed base of Flash, it is rapidly gaining momentum and is a viable RIA platform. Read more at Wikipedia or Silverlight.net
QualityLogic’s in-depth knowledge of web technologies enables us to design the most effective test scenarios for your web site or web-related technology.
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