AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. AJAX is a technology that developers use to create better, faster and more interactive web applications. AJAX uses XHTML for content, CSS to style the page, and JavaScript for controlling content dynamically. AJAX allows you to update a web page without reloading the page (this technique is called a “SPA” or Single Page Application), request data for the page after it has loaded, receive data after the page has loaded, and send data to the server in the background. Despite XML being part of the acronym that makes up AJAX, AJAX can send and receive data in any format, including JSON or plain text. While traditional web applications use synchronous methods to send and receive information from a web server, AJAX can use asynchronous API calls in the background without blocking activity in the browser. AJAX is a data-driven rather than a page-driven technology.