Ajax

It seems that AJAX will be the big thing for 2005-06.
Web services concept was, in my opinion, a general without a soldier for the UI front. AJAX requires a solid XML processing infrastructure and provides responsive user interfaces.
AJAX will nicely compliment web services infrastructure and be used together. (See how XForms are being implemented server side, which was impossible before AJAX era.)


Microsoft and all other big players are aligning behind it. Enterprise Java specs will make AJAX a core feature of JSF implementations. I am asking some browser vendors to call to arms.

From now any serious intranet application should be built on AJAX techniques, provided that browser can be pinned down to major version number. Google effect is pushing the limits and setting the standarts.