Today we're launching the Google Chart API, a really simple tool for creating charts and graphs that are perfect for websites.
Let's get straight in with an example. This URL:
http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p3&chd=s:hW&chs=250x100&chl=Hello|WorldCreates this image:
That's it - no state, no calls, just send your data in an http request and get a png image graph back. Embed the request in an img tag and you're done. We currently support line charts, bar charts, pie charts, scatter plots, and sparklines.
We actually built this originally to use internally - we use it on Google Video and Google Finance for example. It seemed like it would be a good thing to open up to other users too. You can find out all about it at on the Google Chart API homepage and there's a Google Chart API group for questions and support.
The Google Chart API started out as a 20% time project here in Zurich, and we're really happy to be launching it to the world today. Let the charting begin!
