Google Visualization API
March 21st, 2008 | by Nathan |I’ve read a lot on this topic already as Google released a Visualization API for users and developers 2 days ago.
From the official Google Blog,
“Instead of delivering just one or two new types of reports, or a new visual map mashup, we decided to deliver a platform on which anyone, not just Google, could build the next best thing.
The Google Visualization API lets you access multiple sources of structured data that you can display, choosing from a large selection of visualizations. The Google Visualization API also provides a platform that can be used to create, share and reuse visualizations written by the developer community at large.
Visit the Google Visualization API Gadget Gallery to get a feel for what sort of visualizations Google is expecting their API to be used for.
I was wondering when this would become open-source.
I’ve been using a similar technology, Xcelsius, which was bought by Business Objects and incorporated into their reporting suite to accomplish the same type of easy dashboard/widget building that Google is now attempting to make open and free to all.
Google Visualization API gadgets are gadgets that can access data sources in an easy manner. For developers this means writing an application only once to be reused over multiple data sources. For users, this means enjoying a wealth of new visualization options over many types of data sources.
This is a step in the right direction. I’m an avid believer that people will make better, more convincing decisions if they are equipped with ways to synthesize the information in an intuitive manner, leading to a confident decision based on the facts.
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