Book Image

Google Visualization API Essentials

By : Traci Lynn Ruthkoski
Book Image

Google Visualization API Essentials

By: Traci Lynn Ruthkoski

Overview of this book

There's a lot of data in our world, and visual representations are often the best method of making sense of it all. Yet, it should not take an army of programmers and analysts to create visualizations in order to make data useful. The Google Visualization API is accessible to novice and advanced programmers alike, making data useful to more people."Google Visualization API Essentials" will show you how to create interactive data displays with very little code. The API, combined with Google Spreadsheets and Fusion Tables, is a complete system, from data management to analytical displays. Not only is it simple to learn, but the Google Visualization API can also be viewed as a first step to learning additional Google APIs."Google Visualization API Essentials" uses both methodology overviews and hands-on examples with real data to introduce chart and graph creation on the Google platform. Topics are presented from various aspects, including Google Spreadsheets and Fusion Tables, and Graphic User Interfaces. An overview of the various API development environments available to developers is also covered. Basic and advanced charts, data source connectivity, style formatting, and publishing options are also explored in depth."Google Visualization API Essentials" brings the arsenal of Google Visualizations into the web developer toolkit.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)

Summary


One of the biggest technology challenges of this decade is how to gain insight from seemingly unwieldy data collections. Often times the best method of enabling insight is the visualization of data. While the Visualization API does not modify data source values, it is capable of creating new elements from existing data. The visualization of both original and new data side-by-side, which is possible with the Visualization API, is a notable advantage. Another strength on which data analysts can capitalize is that the Visualization API includes both ready-to-use data source options as well as the necessary tools to retrofit your own data source.

Increasing the depth of data exploration through visualization also increases the need for interactive tools. The capability to filter data views on the fly also is a proven method of discovery that was not possible with static representations. The next chapter focuses on the interactive capabilities of the Visualization API through the use of...