I'm working to build a JQUERY enabled AutoSuggest plugin, inspired by Apple's spotlight.

Here is the general code: $(document).ready(function() { $('#q').bind('keyup', function() {

    if( $(this).val().length == 0) {
        // Hide the q-suggestions box
        $('#q-suggestions').fadeOut();
    } else {
        // Show the AJAX Spinner
        $("#q").css("background-image","url(/images/ajax-loader.gif)");

        $.ajax({
            url: '/search/spotlight/',
            data: {"q": $(this).val()},
            success: function(data) {
                $('#q-suggestions').fadeIn(); // Show the q-suggestions box
                $('#q-suggestions').html(data); // Fill the q-suggestions box

                // Hide the AJAX Spinner
                $("#q").css("background-image","url(/images/icon-search.gif)");

            }
        });
    }
});

The issue I want to solve well & elegantly, is not killing the sever. Right now the code above hits the server every time you type a key and does not wait for you to essentially finish typing. What's the best way to solve this? A. Kill previous AJAX request? B. Some type of AJAX caching? C. Adding some type of delay to only submit .AJAX() when the person has stopped typing for 300ms or so?

Thanks