Google Maps V3 Developer Guide

The Google Maps V3 developer guide is the most current version at the time of publication. It focuses on the use of JavaScript and expands the use of maps on mobile devices. The previous guide, V2, depended on using Flash. However, Google deprecated Flash with Google Maps in September 2011. The developer guide to Google Maps V3 offers code snippets and advice for developers using JavaScript to run Google Maps in applications and websites.

Developer Guide V3

The Google Maps V3 guide focuses on using JavaScript to embed maps in Web pages or applications. The code also allows developers to include tools to add tags to maps, as well as to zoom and scroll through maps. Google claims that the V3 JavaScript version is faster than previous Flash versions. It's free to use at the time of publication, although terms of use prohibit you from charging users to access maps on your own site.

Mobile

Google Maps V3 is designed to work well with mobile devices such as Android and iOS-enabled cell phones, according to Google. Because of this, the JavaScript code provided in the developer's guide integrates "pinch to zoom" and other functions specific for use on mobile devices. The V3 guide contains a code snippet for optimizing maps for mobile usage.

Other Benefits

Guide V3 also allows for functions such as Street View, Google Places search and Fusion Tables, according to TechCrunch. Google provides JavaScript code for Maps localization, allowing apps and websites to show useful places near a user's current location. The guide also explains how to automatically detect if a user is on an Android handset or iPhone using a property called navigator.userAgent.

Deprecation

Because Google announced that the Flash-based V2 has been deprecated, Google won't develop any new functions or improvements, other than important security fixes, for V2. To some extent, Flash offered less flexibility and was not supported on some iOS devices such as the iPhone. Only a small number of Flash-based applications use the older Flash API for Google Maps, according to reports in TechCrunch.