For a recent website project I was working on, I needed to implement maps. With Google Maps as my first choice, I began to search for some specific examples. While Google has a nice API reference, the examples they provide are not that obvious. Than I came across a book Google Maps JavaScript API Cookbook written by Alper Dincer and Balkan Uraz (Packt Publishing) that provided the information I needed.

google-maps-book

The beginning of this book can seem a bit overloaded: the table of contents is extensive and the first examples are overly explained. However, once you get to situation that is not-so-often described, you will be thankful for the detailed overview. For example, I enjoyed reading about how to add custom tiles as layers; how to work with GeoJSON; add custom controls; and combine maps with other Google Services. There are topics in addition to these other developers can find useful as this book is loaded with lots of recipes and examples. The only thing missing was a more extensive explanation on how to debug problems, but there are a lots of books out there on this particular topic.

Although the highly technicians authors have a lot of experience in mapping and geodesic fields, the book is an easy and pleasant read. Every example has one or more screenshots of what readers can expect; extensive explanations of what should be done; and the How it works section, which I enjoy the most. The book is useable for both newbies and more professional developers with its short explanations on HTML and Java Script for the former and some heavy mapping recipes for the latter.

I definitely enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it for others.