AJAX and Unsupported servers

[chad_forte@yahoo.com]

First of all, I'd like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the creators of phpfreaks and ajaxfreaks, as well as the .*freaks who make my job so much easier!!!

Here is my problem: 

I am stuck supporting an obscure and archaic server.  Due to the limitations of the server, I am forced to move a lot of processing to the client.    The server is a cgi based server side scripting engine called Aestiva H20.

My question:

What AJAX framework should I use?  I've spent the past 3 days reviewing the myriad of options and dont know where to go from here.  All of the prominant frameworks that I've reviewed are php/j2ee dependant on the server side. 

I am comfortable with writing an Aestiva based back end, but dont want to spend another week reading server side source code to find a suitable framework.

My client side needs are fairly light.  I'm looking for a simple, reliable, JSON transport without a lot of bells and whistles.  I basically want to send serialized JS objects which are built from database rows, and then use the client to manipulate, validate, and insert/update information in the database. 

Any suggestions? 

Thanks in advance,
Chad

[ober]

I'd suggest writing your own.  As long as your backend can accept and return data using the xmlhttprequest object, there's no reason it has to be a specific backend language.  And if you look around here or on ajaxfreaks, the JavaScript is actually pretty simple.  I just don't understand the people that think they have to use a framework.

[chad_forte@yahoo.com]

Thanks Ober, I appreciate the input.

With regard to a framework, I know I dont need one to accomplish my goals, but would like to use one. 

I am leaning towards finding a basic, reliable framework and replacing the back end.  My reasons for this approach are based on two things.  First of all, my js skills are rusty, and more importantly, I want to take advantage of features/techniques that I dont have time to think up on my own.  I can get the basics accomplished using xmlhttprequest, but why not take it a step further and use a few carefully selected bells and whistles?  By doing so, I'll have a flashier end product, and I will also have a chance to contribute back to the open source community (in the form of the H2O back end). 

Do you (or anyone else) have a framework recommendation? 

Also, am I missing something since I have not yet dug into any of the server side code?  Is most of it just a marshalled json object which is passed through the body of html? 

Are there frameworks that are written to handle just raw json?  I can easily do that. 

Maybe I'm overthinking this whole project?

I apologize for my ignorance, but hopefully I can pass on all that I learn on this project to future n00bs.

Thanks,
Chad

[ober]

Well, I'll be honest, I have never worked with JSON and I don't know what the backend for that would look like.  However, I'm not sure what "bells and whistles" you're referring to, but it doesn't take much to throw up an animated gif to show progress or whatever you were thinking of.

Honestly, I don't have a framework to recommend because I write my own for everything I do.  It's cleaner, I understand it, and I can modify it at will.