Interacting with the User and the Server

Abstract

Now that you’ve created your first map (in Chapter 2) and had a chance to perform some initial experiments using the Google Maps API, it’s time to make your map a little more useful and dynamic. Most, if not all, of the best Google Maps mashups rely on interaction with the user in order to customize the information displayed on the map. As you’ve already learned, it’s relatively easy to create a map and display a fixed set of points using static HTML and a bit of JavaScript. Anyone with a few minutes of spare time and some programming knowledge could create a simple map that would, for example, display the markers of all the places he visited on his vacation last year. A static map such as this is nice to look at, but once you’ve seen it, what would make you return to the page to look at it again? To keep people coming back and to hold their attention for longer than a few seconds, you need a map with added interactivity and a bit of flair.