The goal of this project was to integrate and utilize an API provided by Google Maps into our project API to create and display static images of properties. In order to display an image of a property, a request must be sent to Google Maps from the client side web page, requesting information by passing “Address” data. The data regarding the address is stored in a SQL database, and must first be pulled with AJAX and serialized before being passed to Google. Google then takes the request embedded within an img tag, and outputs the result to the webpage once the call has been completed.
This additional requirement to the RentZen project provided us with an opportunity to utilize open source tools to enhance the user experience on our website. It also provided us with a very important lesson in how important reading developer notes can be in making short work of a seemingly large problem.