The XMLHttpRequest Object

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The XMLHttpRequest object is supported in Internet Explorer 5.0+, Safari 1.2, Mozilla 1.0 / Firefox, Opera 9, and Netscape 7.
What is an HTTP Request?
With an HTTP request, a web page can make a request to, and get a response from a web server - without reloading the page. The user will stay on the same page, and he or she will not notice that scripts might request pages, or send data to a server in the background.
By using the XMLHttpRequest object, a web developer can change a page with data from the server after the page has loaded.
Google Suggest is using the XMLHttpRequest object to create a very dynamic web interface: When you start typing in Google's search box, a JavaScript sends the letters off to a server and the server returns a list of suggestions.