The software behind Google Maps consists of a client and server. The client is what you use when you visit http://maps.google.com, and it communicates with the Google Maps backend servers. Google provides an API that lets you use their own client and backend server, but since OpenLayers is used as our client, we're only interested in interacting with Google's backend map server.
Note
There may be legal restrictions depending on how you plan to use the Google Maps. Full restrictions can be found at http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html and http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/help/legalnotices_maps.html.
In the previous chapters, we've set up the Google Layer using Version 3 (V3) of the Google Map API. Because Google Maps updates their API, OpenLayers must also update to accommodate any changes that are made. OpenLayers versions prior to 2.10 (the one this book is based on) use Version 2 (V2) of the Google Maps API. Google Maps V2 usage is deprecated however, so we will focus...