Connecting Traces: Understanding Client-Server Interactions in Ajax Applications

Ajax-enabled web applications are a new breed of highly interactive, highly dynamic web applications. Although Ajax allows developers to create rich web applications, Ajax applications can be difficult to comprehend and thus to maintain. For this reason, we have created FireDetective, a tool that uses dynamic analysis at both the client (browser) and server side to facilitate the understanding of Ajax applications. Using an exploratory pre-experimental user study, we see that web developers encounter problems when understanding Ajax applications. We also find preliminary evidence that the FireDetective tool allows web developers to understand Ajax applications more effectively, more efficiently and with more confidence.