As you have most likely seen by now. Google put out a [charting api](http://code.google.com/apis/chart/ “Developer's Guide - Google Chart API - Google Code”)! It is crazy simple to use. There are two factors that will make this api an instant success.

1. It is entirely url based.
2. It has no api key.

These factors are important and work in conjunction with one another. It comes down to the fact that there is *almost* no risk for a web developer integrate with google charts. You never have to worry about your site getting too successful, there is a limit of **50,000** charts per day per IP. Since the IP that generates the chart belongs to your end user, your site’s IP won’t even generate 1 chart, thus no risk.

I messed around with the api for about an hour last night and found it easiest to make pie charts. But, I really like the fact that I can include a chart in my blog post without any plugins and very little effort.

![chart](http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p3&chd=t:45,22,18,2,8,5&chs=400×200&chl=Google|Ruby|JavaScript|SQL|HTML|CSS&chtt=Nicholas’s+Language+Usage&chco=ff0000,000000,00ff00,0000ff “Nicholas’s Language Usage”)

And Here is the url broken up by data parts:

http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p3&
chd=t:45,22,18,2,8,5&
chs=400×200&
chl=Google|Ruby|JavaScript|SQL|HTML|CSS&
chtt=Nicholas’s+Language+Usage&
chco=ff0000,000000,00ff00,0000ff

Post Information

Tags:

  • No Tags

We're Reading

Feeds/Syndication

Leave a Reply