“ Another area where Ajax really needs to advance is in terms of tooling . While there are some nice Ajax development tools coming out of vendors such as Microsoft, Backbase, TIBCO, and Nexaweb – the truth is Ajax IDEs are still pretty primitive compared to what we have for Java and Adobe’s Flex 2. In fact, given a choice I would much rather work with Adobe Flex 2 than Ajax simply because the tooling is much better. While the Ajax IDE market is still underdeveloped, the number of code-level Ajax frameworks and APIs available today is ridiculous. At my last count (August 2006) there were something like 160 Ajax frameworks. The other day someone told me – this is not been substantiated – that number is closer to 300 today. While I like the Apache adage, “let a thousand flowers bloom” there is a point where the sheer diversity of options is anti-productive to the industry as a whole.”