It definitely depends on how you're utilizing Ajax methods. On the client side, a page load including headers, tags, external files, image / object loading, any onLoad javascript, etc can be a rather heavy process for the browser as well as the network (firebug gives a good glimpse of all of this). If you're just loading a piece of data, say a JSON array of the options in a select box, or a JSON array of information to create a couple local form fields with, you're skipping LOTS of overhead and merely replacing a small portion of an already built page.
As for the server side, for a full page load, you might find yourself hitting the database 5 or 10 times. Maybe even 150 times. You're also running includes/requires, template engine, likely an entire framework full of tweaks, specialized queries and automation to build the page from data to template to html. Asking the server for a list of states in JSON format should be far less a production. Of course, the difference may be in a few ms, but on a heavily trafficked site, few ms can be a lifetime. Mark _______________________________________________ New York PHP Community Talk Mailing List http://lists.nyphp.org/mailman/listinfo/talk NYPHPCon 2006 Presentations Online http://www.nyphpcon.com Show Your Participation in New York PHP http://www.nyphp.org/show_participation.php
