Google Maps API

Preparing for the new job I have been taking some time to look into the Google Maps API.  I must say that they make it VERY easy to do the basics such as plotting some addresses on the maps.  They even offer a geo-coding service now so you can just send it the address and it will tell you the latitude and longitude.  This is very nice because most other services on the net charge for this data.

I have started messing around with it and one thing that I found to be really useful is a Java-Script utility called Clusterer, this utility will allow you to plot all of your points on the map however it will consolidate them into clusters if you will. If you would like to see this in action you can check out the demo they have setup.  The large purple balloons are the clusters, when you zoom in the clusters will break into the individual points.

The task at hand will be to plot all of the conference attendee’s onto a map, the issue is that there could be hundreds, maybe even thousands of addresses plotted on the map.  When you get this many balloons on the map it really looks cluttered.  I found this clustering solution and have yet to look into the marker manager that Google offers in their API.  I am waiting for the book I ordered to get here.  I bought the book Beginning Google Maps Applications with PHP and Ajax: From Novice to Professional, yes it’s a long title but the reviews are good.  The book is due to be here today and since I am having teeth pulled on Monday I will have plenty of time to read.  Once I am better I will make a post on here reviewing the book.