Google Chart API
I’m very excited about the new Google Chart API. Calling a very simple URI-based API returns a wide variety of elegant and very effective graphs for all sorts of uses. We can now include charts in blog posts, Basecamp messages, etc.—essentially, anywhere we can post HTML. Anyone who’s ever had to muck around with GD, Flash, or any other server-side graphing technology will appreciate how simple and powerful this is.
The Charts API is a prime example of the power of the Unix philosophy of using discreet, limited-function apps that can be chained together to create much more complex and compelling applications, only in this case having the internet itself as the operating system glue that binds the components together. In essence, Google is building out a layer of functionality on top of the web that we can then deploy into our own applications, thereby insinuating themselves into the fabric of the web itself. Very neat stuff!
This is fabulous! Motivates me to get back into coding things, which I’ve been very distant from for a while now. Thanks Jorge.
Google rocks!
Google rocks, no doubt about that. But it still doesn’t have a tool for project management. If it did, I’d prefec it to be email integrated like Wrike.com, which I’m currently using. It’s a good one, see for yourself http://www.wrike.com/