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)

A basic visualization


With the general structure of visualization application established for both HTML-based and App Script apps, data and rendering code can now be added. For now, the data used in each sample is created within the script for purposes of illustration. In Chapter 6, Data Manipulation and Sources, data source connectivity outside the API script will be addressed. However, the following high-level logic for creating a visualization remains the same.

Logical steps to create a visualization are as follows:

  1. Create/import/connect to the data.

  2. Set the parameters, and perform calculations.

  3. Render the Chart.

For the majority of developers, the most recognizable method of development is in a HTML context. For HTML, the Google Code Playground is perhaps the best development platform for newcomers.

Code Playground

Using the Google Code Playground, the following code renders the 2010 Chicago Census data used in the previous chapter examples.

function drawVisualization() {// Create and populate...