[Javascript] DOM vs AJAX

[mdougherty at pbp.com (Mike Dougherty)]

Matt Warden:
> Surely he is not talking about using AJAX as a way of including files.
> It's the dynamic content without a page refresh he's after.
Michael Borchers:
>> with AJAX i would simply store the elements in a seperate file
>> and then import it into a <div>

   Storing elements in a file to be included into a div sounded like SSI to me.  If SSI is 
unavailable (change your web host) you could also use external scripts (which would get cached by 
the browser as a bonus, at the expense of having to code html in javascript)

>> ... DHTML still does not require AJAX.
> 
> And if the number of possible states is large or infinite, then what?

   Then the page will take a large or infinite time to load.  :)

Obviously there are correct uses for AJAX.  It allows cool things to be done in a browser that 
were simply not possible before.  None of the HowTo I have seen about AJAX discuss when NOT to use 
it.  My two cents was to suggest that there may be other solutions available before relying on 
AJAX to build a page.