Fwiw the Lift web framework has been diffing a server-side virtual DOM back to the client-side DOM via Ajax since 2007. And I wouldn't be surprised if the conc

Fwiw the Lift web framework has been diffing a server-side virtual DOM back to the client-side DOM via Ajax since 2007. And I wouldn't be surprised if the concept existed elsewhere even before that. Claims to be the first to have had the idea should be taken with a grain of salt.