⚡ GMapsBook.com is crafted by Jozef Sorocin and powered by:
- g-Xperts (Google Cloud & Business Profile Partner)
- Spatialized.io (Elasticsearch & Google Maps consulting)
- and Garages-Near-Me.com (Effortless long-term parking across Germany)
This Book’s Scope
Google Maps spans a broad suite a web mapping services. Among other things, it offers:
- satellite imagery
- 360° panoramic views of streets (Street View)
- real-time traffic conditions
- route planning for traveling by foot, car, bicycle, or public transportation
- and street maps.
This handbook primarily focuses on street maps via the Google Maps Javascript API with a few sprinkles of related APIs and services such as:
- the Static Maps API
- the Routes API
- the Places API
- and the Geocoding API.
Target Audience
You’ll benefit from this handbook the most if you have at least rudimentary knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript/TypeScript.
The presented materials aren’t designed for marketing professionals, sales people, and no-code folks. You will need to write code to apply the learnings from this handbook to your application or website.
Programming Language
TypeScript offers type safety and intellisense (+ code editor autocomplete) and plays along well with the Google Maps Javascript API.
Chapter Structure
Each chapter in this book is dedicated to a separate topic and can be read independently. However, the chapters frequently reference one another.
Each subchapter starts with a brief summary, followed by a description of the challenges that you will likely face.
Next, a real-world scenario is presented, followed by the approach the author would take to address it.
Tips 💡, key pieces of information 🔑, and caveats ⚠️ are scattered throughout the text.
Terminology, Abbreviations, and Naming Conventions
Term | Interpretation |
GMaps; Maps | The Google Maps Javascript Version 3 API (unless stated otherwise) |
GCP; Google Cloud | The Google Cloud Platform |
console | The GCP Console (console.cloud.google.com) |
docs | The Maps Javascript API documentation or its technical reference |
dev tools | The browser developer tools (e.g. Chrome’s dev tools), esp. the console |
SO | Stackoverflow.com, the online Q&A forum for developers |
Emoji Legend
🔑 a key piece of knowledge
💡 an idea / a tip / a good-to-know
⚠️ a caveat / a warning
⚙️ deeper knowledge of the subject matter is required
▶️ an expandable toggle list