Sharepoint - 2010: how to add ajaxified part into standard list

Question

I am new to Sharepoint and nearly completely satisfied what lists can do out-of-the-box.

But I have to add new column with ajax autocomplete features. I'm extensively reading documentation, books and tutorials but require a little guidance to speed-up the learning-curve

1. Can I declare custom column with custom client-code in a list or shall I rewrite the list completely (what a nightmare I guess)?
2. Where shall I put my handler for ajax requests?
3. What is the best practice to store custom data from my custom columns within list standard data?
4. Does sharepoint support jquery natively, or shall I use client-side sharepoint API?

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

You can create a custom field type that can behave however you like and be available as a field type on any list or library.

What you are asking for sounds a lot like the Term Set functionality that is already in place that supports ajax enabled lookups and auto-complete against a centrally maintained list of items. The Term Store feature is part of the Managed Metadata Services.

Answer 2

To your point 4: no, SharePoint doesn't support jQuery natively. But I think you get jQuery "helpers" - intellisense, snippets - if you work with Visual Studio 2010 (I don't).