Question

I have inherited a existing website with a large codebase. To handle ajax requests, the site has just one file called ajax.ashx. Inside the file is a switch statement that looks like this:

switch (_json["m"])
{
    case "editDetails":
        if (requestIsValid(context))
            _resp = AjaxMap.editDetailsPro(_json);
        break;

    case "addNewContact":
        if (requestIsValid(context))
            _resp = AjaxMap.addNewContact(_json);
        break;

   // ... and so on.
}

There is about 50 different cases.

For me, this is not the natural solution – I would probably have a different handler for each group similar requests.

I haven’t worked with web technology much before. Is this the usual way to do it? And if so, what are the benefits?

Answer 1

It is perfectly OK.

You save page lifecycle overhead that usually occurs when using Ajax in its default WebForms facilities (UpdatePanel etc.) or even over proxies such as WCF / WebService.

Not to say that these infrastructures are useless, they are certainly not. But for the sole purpose of getting and request, do something and sending net data response – it’s fine.