Create Dynamic Non-JavaScript Cross-browser Image Charts Online With The Google Chart API

The Google Chart API allows you to easily create dynamic, professional-looking image (PNG format) charts with very little programming. Data can be encoded to provide up to 62 (with simple encoding), 1,000 (with text encoding), or 4096 (with extended encoding) different values.

Choose from a variety of charting styles including:

Line chars
Line chart with unevenly spaced data points and lines in red, green and dashed blue

Bar charts
Horizontal bar chart with two data sets: one data set is colored in red the second is adjacent in green

Pie charts (2D and 3D styles available)
Three-dimensional pie chart with six segments where segment colors are interpolated from dark to pale orange

Venn diagrams
Venn diagram with three overlapping circles, one circle is green the others are blue

and

Scatter plots
Scatter plot with default blue circle data points in different sizes as defined by a third data set

Not only is the chart API is free to use, the best part is that it doesn’t come with advertisements. No, not even a Google logo gets embedded in the chart, though as far as I know this is the first of its kind to offer such a service, so there is really nothing out there to compare it to. So why are they offering such a great service — one that obviously consumes a lot of bandwidth — for free? I’m not part of Google, but I’m sure this is part of their grand scheme of taking over the world. In a good way, of course.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Code, Development, JavaScript, Resource, Tools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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3 Responses to “Create Dynamic Non-JavaScript Cross-browser Image Charts Online With The Google Chart API”

  1. rapidadverbssuck Says:
    February 7th, 2008 at 2:02 am

    The Google Charts API is put to good use by the Love-o-Graph ( http://lovegraph.thefootnotes.net ). Their algorithm parses its results into URLs which are then loaded onto a page from Google. If you’re looking for examples of how the API can be used, you should check it out. Also, it’s kind of dorky, but pretty darn cool.

  2. Dennison Uy - Graphic Designer Says:
    February 10th, 2008 at 11:52 am

    For some reason no matter what pair of names I place on that lovegraph site it always returns a “goes separate ways”

  3. Billigflüge Bangkok Says:
    August 22nd, 2008 at 11:37 pm

    Well there is a bunch of programms that enable you to create charts, but Googles API just seems to be the most efficient way to implement it on you website at once. Maybe you are right with your theorie of offering this service for free in order to advance in their taking over the world masterplan. Maybe even in a good way but I am not quite sure whether the purposes are good as well.

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