If you've ever needed a good project to get started with combining PHP and Ajax, you should definitely take a look at this new tutorial from the PHPHacks.com website today. They demonstrate how to create a simple RSS reader combining the power of PHP and the client-side abilities of Ajax.

They start by explaining some of the terms they'll be working with, including:

• RSS - and an example document
• XSL - to help create the RSS feed
• SimpleXML - to read in and parse the info from a remote server

After that, they jump right in, creating their first file - the main functionality for the application (on the PHP side). They opt to do everything by hand and not use any of the frameworks that are already out there so you can really understand what goes into it. They provide all of the code you'll need to get things set up, including the CSS to get things nice and styled and a few usage examples to show you how it all ties in together.