Introduction

The Google Maps JavaScript API may seem like a simple library that only shows basic geo-related features, but there are a lot of capabilities that could be explored. The Google Maps JavaScript API gives developers many foundation classes to build complex solutions for different cases, especially for Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

The Google Maps JavaScript API has a lot of potential with GIS services and tools. Most of the GIS solutions need base maps and services to support the tool itself and the Google Maps JavaScript API is the best solution with its base maps and services.

There are different GIS solutions from proprietary software and services to open source ones, such as Google Fusion Tables, CartoDB, ArcGIS Server, or GeoServer. In this chapter, we will integrate these servers or services with the Google Maps JavaScript API. Some of the GIS service creation processes are skipped due to space constraints. If you need more information, please check other books...