Working with Yahoo! Maps
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In this series of educational articles, I’ll be walking you through the key concepts for incorporating Yahoo! maps into existing web applications, such as building basic interactive maps and adding different types of zoom controls to them. Then I'll show you how to use more advanced features, such as simple and smart map markers and polylines.
The famous phrase that claims “The web is the largest development platform” isn’t just a claim. It’s a fact that demonstrates how different technologies can coexist peacefully (or not so peacefully, at times) under the strict guidance of one big brother, the venerable and not always well appreciated HTTP protocol.
However, while this scenario offers plenty of opportunities for both novice and seasoned web developers, at the same time, it shows a challenging facet that wasn’t so evident a few years ago. As you know, the development of any average web application demands at least a good background in server and client-side programming languages, such as JavaScript, PHP and Ruby on Rails, not to mention learning the basics of working with CSS styles, Flash, and even Photoshop-based image editing.
But despite the requirements that I mentioned above, things can be much easier when it comes to building specific JavaScript applications, due to the existence of numerous third-party libraries that can facilitate not only rich, highly responsive user interfaces, but also full-featured Ajax–driven programs.
One good example of this is the Yahoo! UI DHTML framework, which provides web developers with a vast arsenal of ready-to-use widgets, JavaScript APIs and CSS libraries (to mention only the most relevant offerings). These can be used either separately or in conjunction to build powerful client-side applications without having to be a JavaScript guru.
Of course, as you’d expect from such a DHTML framework, Yahoo! also brings the possibility of incorporating its famous Yahoo! Maps into existing web applications in an effortless fashion by using the properties and methods encapsulated within the corresponding API.
Hopefully, by the end of this series you will be equipped with the required background to start incorporating these interactive maps into your own web applications. This could definitely be an extra “bonus” for visitors to your website.
So, are you ready to learn how to put Yahoo! Maps to work for you? Great, let’s begin this instructive journey now!
Next: Building a simple regional map >>
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