It is no coincidence that AJAX and RESTful web services gained the attention of developers in their respective stages of infancy. Both technologies emerged during times that were dominated by cumbersome enterprise technologies. They gained popularity because of the freshness, innovation, and simplicity that they brought into the lives of hands-on technologists. AJAX brought the immediate gratification associated with a dynamic web experience, while RESTful web services brought the simplicity and pragmatism that developers expected from the web services concept but faced complex web services specifications.
