Eye-catching graphics with the Google Charts API
WEB GRAPHER
Author(s): MARTIN STREICHER
The Google Chart API lets you draw custom graphs, charts, maps, and barcodes through a simple web interface.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a chart must be something akin to a novella. With just a glance, a chart can convey the state of the stock market, a trend in website traffic, the distribution of voters by county, and how monies are allocated in a household budget. Additionally, a chart is simply more memorable than a large table full of numbers. Oddly, though, very few websites use charts to great advantage, largely because creating a chart requires unique programming and specialized, server-side software to render data. For example, if your site is based on PHP, you must install pChart (or an analog), add the GD graphics library, and write code to produce a graphic of any kind. Ideally, any contributor – an editor, a writer, or a user adding comments – should be able to create and embed a chart.
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