json - how to get json response in a jsp through ajax format

Question

how to get JSON response from server in a client page using ajax XMLHttpRequest

var xmlHttp = false;
try{
xmlHttp = new ActiveXObject("msxml2.XMLHTTP");
}catch(e1){
try{
xmlHttp = new ActiveXObject("microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}catch(e2){
try{
xmlHttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
}catch(e3){
xmlHttp = false;
}