Beginning Google Maps API 3 (Expert's Voice in Web Development) [Paperback]

Gabriel Svennerberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2010 | Series: Expert's Voice in Web Development

This book is about the next generation of the Google Maps API. It will provide the reader with the skills and knowledge necessary to incorporate Google Maps version 3 on web pages in both desktop and mobile browsers.

It also describes how to deal with common problems that most map developers encounter at some point, like performance and usability issues with having too many markers and possible solutions to that.

• Introduction to the Google Maps API version 3
• Solutions to common problems most developers encounters (too many markers, common JavaScript pitfalls)
• Best practices using HTML/CSS/JavaScript and Google Maps

What you’ll learn

• Building reliable Google Maps web applications
• How to transfer from version 2 to version 3 of the API
• Best practices using HTML/CSS/JavaScript
• Dealing with large amounts of map markers
• How to look up addresses and coordinates using GeoCoding and reversed GeoCoding

Who this book is for

Web designers/web developers with a basic knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript, as well as people with knowledge of the old Google Maps API that needs help to easily transfer to the new API. And, this book is for anyone interested in learning how to integrate Google Maps on their web page.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing the Google Maps API
2. Transferring from Version 2 to 3
3. Creating Your First Map
4. Taking the Map Further with MapOptions
5. X Marks the Spot
6. Marker Icons
7. InfoWindow Tips and Tricks
8. Creating Polylines and Polygons
9. Dealing with Massive Numbers of Markers
10. Location, Location, Location

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gabriel Svennerberg is a usability-oriented web developer from Sweden. He's been working in the web industry for over a decade and is known in the web developer community for evangelizing usability and web standards. He's also known for spreading knowledge about the Google Maps API through his website, In Usability We Trust, which also features articles about usability and other things related to web development. It’s found at www.svennerberg.com. At his current job at Saab Security and Defence Solutions (www.saabgroup.com), Gabriel is busy designing and building web applications for situation awareness and crisis management. These applications always incorporate maps in some way and the Google Maps API is one of the map solutions being used.

Gabriel lives in Växjö, Sweden with his fiancée, Petronella, and their son, Ludvig.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 2 edition (July 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1430228024
• ISBN-13: 978-1430228028
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > Computers & Technology > Networking > Network Programming

More About the Author

Gabriel Svennerberg is an Interaction/UI Designer & Web Developer based in Sweden. He's been working in the web industry for more than a decade and is known in the web developer community for evangelizing usability and web standards. He's also known for spreading knowledge about the Google Maps API through his website, In usability we trust, which features articles about Google Maps, UX, and other things related to web development. It's found at www.svennerberg.com.

He currently runs a small consultancy called Meetod (www.meetod.com) where he helps organizations of different sizes to create best in class web applications.

Gabriel lives in Växjö, Sweden, with his fiancée, Petronella, and their son Ludvig.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book - quick and easy August 9, 2010

By Anthony L. Brown

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Thanks to the authors very clear writing and frequent use of small examples this book is a pleasure to read. Everything I wanted to know was covered. The online documentation of the google maps api 3 is pretty good, but I definitely found that using this book helped me get my project done alot faster. Even after I was done with my project, i went back and read through every page of this book, just because the author is easy to understand and the small examples are fun to follow.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very easy to follow while being incredibly useful September 3, 2010

By Phillip L. Reese

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm sometimes tasked with creating web mapping applications for my job, so I'm constantly visiting the Google Maps API group for help with any problems, or just to search for interesting web mashups posted by others. Last year, I somehow followed link after link after link and found myself looking at Gabriel Svennerberg's blog. After reading several entries pertaining to the Google Maps API, I bookmarked his blog because I knew I would refer to it in the future - everything he wrote was not only useful but easy to understand. When he announced he was writing a Google Maps v3 book, I was excited - an entire book written in the style of the blog posts that I found so valuable! The only problem was that the blog posts slowed to a trickle, as Gabriel was spending most of his time writing for the book.

It's been over a year since Gabriel announced he was writing the book, but it's finally here and I can easily say it's been worth the wait. I don't come from programming background - I kind of fell into the Google Maps API while studying Geography - so it's been a constant struggle for me to find accessible Google Maps API resources that not only cover the capabilities of the API, but also explain the JavaScript concepts behind them in a way that I can understand. Gabriel's writing style is very easy to read and understand and the examples found in each chapter are immediately useful for all sorts of applications. It almost seems like this book was written specifically for me.

This was a great read, and it's a book that I'm sure I'll consult many, many times. I've bought a ton of programming books that have been an absolute chore to read, and those books usually end up on my bookshelf unread. This book is going to stay right next to me on my desk. Hopefully this book sells well enough that Gabriel decides to keep writing.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book for beginners October 12, 2010

By Bojan Pejic

Format:Paperback

As the book title says this is for those readers who are getting to know Google Maps API 3. It's written clean and understandable, with lot of code examples and pictures which represents given code result. At the beginning of book some description of Google Maps API, version 3, and mapping fundamentals are written. After basic introduction to some coding (xhtml,css,javascript, how to use api reference) book dives into API elements: how to create map, set mapOptions, markers, marker icons, infoWindows, Polylines and Polygons. In appendix is included API reference, which is very useful. Through book there are a lot of tips, usually a web page which will give you more information of currently read topic. So, if you're a Google Maps API 3 beginner, this is the right book for you.