So I see on a lot of people\'s resumes they list AJAX in their technologies (or

Question

So I see on a lot of people's resumes they list AJAX in their technologies (or programming languages - and I recognize that it is not a language). To me, AJAX seems like such a small concept to be individually listed. It seems it is almost as useful as listing MVC experience (because MVC too is a concept), which is good to know, but AJAX, like MVC, is just a facet of one's abilities as a developer. However, saying "I know AJAX" seems like it is much smaller thing than saying "I know MVC".

What does saying "I know AJAX" actually cover?

To me, it seems like you are saying, I know how to use JavaScript to send of an asynchronous call (via some data format like XML or JSON) to a web endpoint, and use the endpoint's response to manipulate a web page's DOM for visual effects and data.

The wikipedia page on AJAX lists just a few more things, but I'd love to ask the community... am I missing a key concept about AJAX? If not, it seems like that listing it on a resume is just fluff.

Explanation / Answer

You are thinking like a programmer. Instead, try to think like a Human Resources Director.

Senior Developer to Human Resources Director: We need to hire a web developer.

HRD: Okay, what skills do they need to have?

SRD: Well, PHP, Javascript, MVC frameworks, git...

HRD: Anything else?

SRD: Well, experience with AJAX would be a plus...

Adding technologies like AJAX into resumes works as grease to facilitate Human Resources filtering out potential job applications and to write accurate job listings.

Otherwise, you are correct. If I were hiring a web developer, I would assume that PHP + Javascript on a resume would imply having written code with asynchronous calls. But I would still ask during an interview if it wasn't explicitly stated.

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