Call to jquery ajax - .fail vs. :error

The two options are equivalent.

However, the promise-style interface (.fail() and .done()) allow you to separate the code creating the request from the code handling the response.

You can write a function that sends an AJAX request and returns the jqXHR object, and then call that function elsewhere and add a handler.

When combined with the .pipe() function, the promise-style interface can also help reduce nesting when making multiple AJAX calls:

$.ajax(...)
    .pipe(function() { 
        return $.ajax(...);
    })
    .pipe(function() { 
        return $.ajax(...);
    })
    .pipe(function() { 
        return $.ajax(...);
    });

Just to freshen this up...

The success and error approach have been deprecated as of jQuery 1.8.

jQuery Ajax

Deprecation Notice: The jqXHR.success(), jqXHR.error(), and jqXHR.complete() callbacks are deprecated as of jQuery 1.8. To prepare your code for their eventual removal, use jqXHR.done(), jqXHR.fail(), and jqXHR.always() instead.

Using the chainable deferred object promise style allows for a cleaner structure and the use of always.

let data = {"key":"value"}

$.ajax({
    type: 'PUT',
    url: 'http://example.com/api',
    contentType: 'application/json',
    data: JSON.stringify(data), 
}).done(function () {
    console.log('SUCCESS');
}).fail(function (msg) {
    console.log('FAIL');
}).always(function (msg) {
    console.log('ALWAYS');
});