Mining Google Web Services--Building Applications with the Google API | Mining Google Web Services: Building Applications with the Google API

John Paul Mueller

SYBEX

Associate Publisher: Joel Fugazzotto
Acquisitions and Developmental Editor: Tom Cirtin
Production Editor: Leslie E.H. Light
Technical Editor: Russ Mullen
Copyeditor: Cheryl Hauser
Compositor: Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Graphic Illustrator: Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Proofreaders: Laurie O'Connell, Nancy Riddiough
Indexer: Lynnzee Elze
Cover Design and Illustration: Richard Miller, Calyx Design

1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA 94501.

World rights reserved. No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but not limited to photocopy, photograph, magnetic, or other record, without the prior agreement and written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Card Number: 2003116218

0-7821-4333-4

SYBEX and the SYBEX logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SYBEX Inc. in the United States and/or other countries .

Screen reproductions produced with PaintShop Pro. PaintShop Pro is a trademark of Jasc Software, Inc.

Internet screen shot(s) using Microsoft Internet Explorer reprinted by permission from Microsoft Corporation.

Google and the Google logo are trademarks of Google Inc. Screenshots are copyrighted by Google Inc. and are reprinted by permission.

TRADEMARKS: SYBEX has attempted throughout this book to distinguish proprietary trademarks from descriptive terms by following the capitalization style used by the manufacturer.

The author and publisher have made their best efforts to prepare this book, and the content is based upon final release software whenever possible. Portions of the manuscript may be based upon pre-release versions supplied by software manufacturer(s). The author and the publisher make no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to the completeness or accuracy of the contents herein and accept no liability of any kind including but not limited to performance, merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose, or any losses or damages of any kind caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly from this book.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Karen Watterson,
a kindred spirit and fellow worker.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to my wife, Rebecca, for working with me to get this book completed. I really don't know what I would have done without her help in researching and compiling some of the information that appears in this book. She also did a fine job of proofreading my rough draft and page proofing the result.

Russ Mullen deserves thanks for his technical edit of this book. He greatly added to the accuracy and depth of the material you see here. Russ is always providing me with great URLs for new products and ideas. I also appreciated his hard work in testing endless versions of applications and providing input in my ideas. This book is technically challenging in that it relies on a number of programming languages, new and evolving technology, and several new products. Russ met the challenge with an efficiency that few other people could match.

A number of people read all or part of this book to help me refine the approach and to test the examples on a number of systems. These unpaid volunteers helped in ways too numerous to mention here. I especially appreciate the efforts of Eva Beattie who read the entire book and selflessly devoted herself to this project. Phillipp Lenssen provided a lot of information about both Google Web Services and Amazon Web Services. He also provided the inspiration for the combined Google and Amazon application. Osvaldo T llez Almirall provided extensive input on international issues, making the book much better suited to international needs as a result. David Clark helped with accessibility, user interface, and PHP development issues.

Matt Wagner, my agent, deserves credit for helping me get the contract in the first place and taking care of all the details that most authors don't really consider. I always appreciate his help. It's good to know that someone wants to help.

Finally, I would like to thank Tom Cirtin, Leslie Light, Cheryl Hauser, and the rest of the editorial and production staff at Sybex for their assistance in bringing this book to print. It's always nice to work with such a great group of professionals and I very much appreciate the friendship we have built over the last two books.

About the Author

John Paul Mueller is a freelance author and technical editor. He has writing in his blood, having produced 62 books and over 300 articles to date. The topics range from networking to artificial intelligence and from database management to heads down programming. Some of his current books include several C# developer guides, an accessible programming guide, a book on .NET security, and a book on Amazon Web Services. His technical editing skills have helped over 35 authors refine the content of their manuscripts. John has provided technical editing services to both Data Based Advisor and Coast Compute magazines. He's also contributed articles to magazines like InformIT, SQL Server Professional, Visual C++ Developer, Hard Core Visual Basic, asp.netPRO, and Visual Basic Developer . He's currently the editor of the .NET electronic newsletter for Pinnacle Publishing (http://www.freeenewsletters.com/).

When John isn't working at the computer, you can find him in his workshop. He's an avid woodworker and candle maker. On any given afternoon, you can find him working at a lathe or putting the finishing touches on a bookcase . He also likes making glycerin soap, which comes in handy for gift baskets . You can reach John on the Internet at JMueller@mwt.net. John also has a Web site at http://www.mwt.net/~jmueller/. Feel free to look and make suggestions on how he can improve it. One of his current projects is creating book FAQ sheets that should help you find the book information you need much faster.