Hacking Google Maps and Google Earth (ExtremeTech)

Chapter 9 — Using Overlays 179

Wrapping Up

As you have seen in this chapter it is the combination of the JavaScript, dynamic data, and the

ability to parse and lay out this information in a dynamic environment that makes using

Google Maps so much fun. Although the code is comparatively complex if you are not familiar

with JavaScript, many of the basic principles should be straightforward.

Thanks to what you’ve learned in this chapter, you should now be able to build your own

dynamic marker-based Google Maps. Populating a database with the information and then

highlighting the right points onto the map is comparatively straightforward when you break

down the system into manageable steps. With the basic techniques here, you could also show

different businesses or cities and even build a worldwide map of highlighted points using the

same basic structure that is shown in this chapter.

Now that the basics of a dynamically driven mapping environment are in place, it is time to

extend the functionality. The next chapter covers the display and portrayal of statistical infor-

mation and introduces new techniques that include polylines and different display icons.