AJAX is simply Asyncronous JSON or XML (in most newer situations JSON). Because we are doing an ASYNC task we will likely be providing our users with a more enjoyable UI experience. In this specific case we are doing a FORM submission using AJAX.
Really quickly there are 4 general web actions GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE; these directly correspond with SELECT/Retreiving DATA, INSERTING DATA, UPDATING/UPSERTING DATA, and DELETING DATA. A default HTML/ASP.Net webform/PHP/Python or any other form action is to "submit" which is a POST action. Because of this the below will all describe doing a POST. Sometimes however with http you might want a different action and would likely want to utilitize .ajax.
/* attach a submit handler to the form */
$("#formoid").submit(function(event) {
/* stop form from submitting normally */
event.preventDefault();
/* get the action attribute from the <form action=""> element */
var $form = $(this),
url = $form.attr('action');
/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*/
var posting = $.post(url, {
name: $('#name').val(),
name2: $('#name2').val()
});
/* Alerts the results */
posting.done(function(data) {
$('#result').text('success');
});
posting.fail(function() {
$('#result').text('failed');
});
});<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<form id="formoid" action="studentFormInsert.php" title="" method="post">
<div>
<label class="title">First Name</label>
<input type="text" id="name" name="name">
</div>
<div>
<label class="title">Last Name</label>
<input type="text" id="name2" name="name2">
</div>
<div>
<input type="submit" id="submitButton" name="submitButton" value="Submit">
</div>
</form>
<div id="result"></div>From jQuery website $.post documentation.
Example: Send form data using ajax requests
$.post("test.php", $("#testform").serialize());
Example: Post a form using ajax and put results in a div
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.9.1.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<form action="/" id="searchForm">
<input type="text" name="s" placeholder="Search..." />
<input type="submit" value="Search" />
</form>
<!-- the result of the search will be rendered inside this div -->
<div id="result"></div>
<script>
/* attach a submit handler to the form */
$("#searchForm").submit(function(event) {
/* stop form from submitting normally */
event.preventDefault();
/* get some values from elements on the page: */
var $form = $(this),
term = $form.find('input[name="s"]').val(),
url = $form.attr('action');
/* Send the data using post */
var posting = $.post(url, {
s: term
});
/* Put the results in a div */
posting.done(function(data) {
var content = $(data).find('#content');
$("#result").empty().append(content);
});
});
</script>
</body>
</html>
Without using OAuth or at minimum HTTPS (TLS/SSL) please don't use this method for secure data (credit card numbers, SSN, anything that is PCI, HIPAA, or login related)