Question

i’ve read that you can use either javascript or php with google maps api. so what are the pros and cons for each of them?

and if i got the geocodes stored in a database. should i get them with ajax and process them with javascript or should i use php?

it says in the FAQ that 15000 requests are allowed per day per ip. does this mean that EACH user has to run 15000 requests a day if im using javascript? sounds a lot. but if im using php instead, is it from the server’s ip only, and thus 15000 for ALL users?

would be great if someone could shed a light on this topic.

Answer 1

The Google Maps API is a JavaScript library. However Google offers its Geocoding Services through a client-side API in JavaScript and though a server-side web service.

This is an example on how to use the JavaScript geocoder:

function initialize() {
  if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) {
    map = new GMap2(document.getElementById("map_canvas"));

    geocoder = new GClientGeocoder();

    geocoder.getLatLng(
      "London, UK",
      function(point) {
        if (point) {
          map.setCenter(point, 13);
          var marker = new GMarker(point);
          map.addOverlay(marker);
        }
      }
    );
  }
}

The following is an example showing how to get the latitude and longitude of an address on the server-side using php:

$url = 'http://maps.google.com/maps/geo?q=London,+UK&output=csv&sensor=false';

$data = @file_get_contents($url);

$result = explode(",", $data);

echo $result[0]; // status code
echo $result[1]; // accuracy
echo $result[2]; // latitude
echo $result[3]; // longitude

You understood the free geocoding quota correctly. Server-side geocoding is limited to 15k requests per day per server, while client-side geocoding is limited to 15k requests per day per client. You would need the Google Maps API Premier to increase these limits.