Ajax, short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a set of web development techniques that uses various web technologies on the client-side to create asynchronous web applications. It allows web applications to send and retrieve data from a server asynchronously without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing page. Ajax is not a new technology, but rather a programming concept that uses a combination of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and the XMLHttpRequest object to achieve asynchronous communication with the server. It enables web pages to be updated asynchronously by exchanging data with a web server behind the scenes, leading to improved performance and a better user experience