AjaxCoded

Ajax in Action is an excellent book by Dave Crane, Eric Pascarello, Darren James

I first approached Manning about writing this book before the term ‘Ajax’ was coined, having spent several years battling through JavaScript and web-based projects and wishing that someone had written down the lessons that I was learning the hard way. I hope the book can help to smooth your introduction to programming using Ajax.
SOURCE : Dave Crane
Obviously Dave has a lot of background to offer us in JavaScript, even before Jesse James Garrett coined the term Ajax in February 2005. This is still one of [...]

Although in some form AJAX applications have exisited for years, Jesse Garrett, co-founder of San Francisco consultancy Adaptive Path is credited with coining the term AJAX. As reported by CNET on March 22, 2005. AJAX: Web “shift” or business as usual?
AJAX: A new approach to web applications is the original essay by Jesse Garrett with a detailed outline of what AJAX is.
This essay is written with a clear and concise voice and is highly recommended for anyone interested in understanding the definition of AJAX.