For years we have been telling our customers that some things could not be done on the web. The web was simply not responsive enough to be used as a platform for everyday applications.

Then, with the rise of the XMLHttpRequest object, everything changed. It is now possible to create Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) that defy the synchronous post/download routine we were used to.

Today there are a lot of excellent javascript libraries that can simplify our life as RIA developers.

On the server side of the equation, we can count on a lot of exciting new frameworks in addition to the usual asp, php and jsp: The trend today is towards Ruby on rails for linux/unix servers and ASP.net for windows servers.

This blog (as the name implies ) focuses on the Prototype javascript framework for the client side and on Microsoft’s ASP.net for the server side.