Typically, web applications are synchronous in nature. The server receives requests from the web browser based on user interaction, and the server responds to those requests with new presentations for the user, which is basically a snapshot at the time of user interaction. This is a fundamentally synchronous process. An example of this would be looking at a webpage, and in order to see if there are any updates you would have to click the refresh button to see any changes, and if you wanted to see any updates after that, you would have to click refresh again.

Asynchronous web applications are moving web based application to behaving more like desktop applications. The Asynchronous Web revolutionizes how web applications behave because it is fundamentally different. With Asynchronous Web it is possible to deliver spontaneous presentation changes to the user as the state of dynamic system changes, without the need for the user to interact with the interface, such as not having to click the refresh button. The advantages are obvious as we can now maintain an accurate view onto the system for the user. When you have multiple users interacting with the same system, the interactions of one user can spontaneously impact what other users see, thus creating a truly collaborative system - the essence of what Web 2.0 promises.

Read this e-guide to learn more about Asynchronous Web and how it is revolutionizing the web.