A Short Introduction to Google APIs   

Find out the true depth of these tools we use every day

Google has developed a suite of Application Programing Interfaces (or APIs, for short) that allow developers to accomplish some impressive things.  These allow communication with Google Services and integration to websites. Simply put, Google can share programs like Maps, Calendar, and Geolocation directly with your site. Think of putting a plug in the wall socket to turn on the TV. In this analogy, the electrician (Google) provided the wiring (API) within the house (your website) so you can plug in your TV (Google service such as Calendar).

Google APIs make customization easy

Web developers utilize APIs to integrate features that are already built instead of recreating them from scratch. Programmers can reference to the appropriate API, and supply it with relevant data, like an address in Maps. All that’s needed is to save the customized API to the hard drive. When the site calls to the API through code, the computer takes care of the rest. This saves time on the developer side, which means saving money on the client side.

The possibilities are endless

Desktop computers aren’t all that can utilize these powerful APIs. Smart phones, tablets, and private networks all mesh with these programs, too. A great example is Facebook.  Facebook allows users to broadcast photos from Instagram to their friends on Facebook. This is a form of an API that we use every day. Google has many more APIs to explore as well.

Mr. WPress currently utilizes Google to integrate maps, calendars, and/or geolocation into any website.  These programs already save you time and money in your daily life. We make it easy for you to incorporate what you already know and love into your website. Check back to our blog over the next couple weeks for a more in-depth view of Maps, Calendar, and Geolocation.

Tags: api, calendar, geolocation, google, maps