If you're a user of the Google Maps API and have often wondered how a certain piece of functionality was coded then look no further because the Google Maps API team have added a demo gallery containing 40+ different sample applications to their documentation section. This makes for much more affective use of your coding time because rather than trying to code something that already exists, you can copy the logic straight from Google's sample applications.

Below are a few of my favorite applications:

• DragZoom This map uses the open source DragZoomControl, which lets users drag a rectangle to zoom in on a map.
• GGoogleBar + Directions This demo shows how to use GDirections to calculate driving directions between a start point and the results of a search done with the Google bar.
• Categorized Local Search This example shows how to use the AJAX Local Search API to search for businesses in certain categories and display their locations on a map.

Labels: Google Maps