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Google Mashup Editor

readwriteweb.com — I just got in to the shiny new beta for the Google Mashup Editor and I wanted to share my thoughts on it with you.

Who dugg this? Made popular Aug 4, 2007

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30 Comments

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  • Unlegend, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16Thumbs up button is broken again.
  • Willmonwah, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Sign up?! http://googlemashups.com
  • bkemper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3"Ample documentation is available"... "the documentation is the bare necessities"

    These two statements are contradictory.
  • Willmonwah, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Sorry, bkemper's right. Ample implies more than sufficient.
  • Willmonwah, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The irony!
  • Willmonwah, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1If you refuse to learn Javascript, you can at least use this if you want a nice GUI for your Yahoo! Pipes /: )
  • stingerau, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Like all google products they have stuck the big BETA tag on it :P. I wonder how long all the google software will stay in BETA ? I had an idea that they should rebuild there search engine with some small new idea and stick BETA on that too :).
  • Willmonwah, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3It's got more to do with its being on the front page.
  • Willmonwah, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Google Mashups Editor is different from Yahoo! Pipes, focusing more on the whole package (including the IDE and by providing easy to use UI elements and templates for displaying data) not just aggregating feeds/items.
  • rahulkumar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Microsoft Popfly is better and totally beast. Then again theres too many people on digg who wouldnt mind sucking off Google and Linux, and can't be honest for once that MS has built a better program.
  • Willmonwah, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1This is pretty old news. I guess you're not suprised it took this long to make it on the front page.
  • jemts, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3This is similar to http://www.popfly.com/
    Although, that is more aimed at non programmers.
  • xpose, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Sorry, I dont really understand what this is used for. Judging by the lack of comments, I am pretty sure I'm not the only one.
  • quikboy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2I have to agree with you - Popfly is great for non programmers. All you have to do is just connect the cubes.

    But they do give you more advanced options if you really need them. Not as much, but it's still in alpha.
  • Willmonwah, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Checkout the gallery and look at the source to see how simple it is: http://gallery.googlemashups.com/
  • michaelschade, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0A quick search on www.yahoo.com also seems to provide some interesting information on locating this tool.
  • seedshares, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1BSSML - Beyond Simple Syndication just has to be right there over the horizon.
  • Willmonwah, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Not really since ample implies sufficient. If bare necessities are satisfied, then the documentation is sufficient.
  • kaiserollofdoom, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3Sorry Google... I love you but Yahoo! Pipes is vastly easier for any one to use, and while Pipes is by no mean perfect its ease of use and options for both rss and json, make it a vastly better product.
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -7/+4wow google is really coming out with some awesome web apps
  • mattmcm, on 10/10/2007, -9/+6I just got in to the shiny new beta for the Google Mashup Editor and I wanted to share my thoughts on it with you. Like Yahoo! Pipes before it (our review here), the Google Mashup Editor provides a simple interface that enables developers to make basic web applications and mashups quickly. And again, like Yahoo! Pipes, it is very definitely aimed at developers.

    The idea behind it is to provide a rapid development framework for mashing feeds into Google services, using common technologies such as XML, JavaScript, CSS and HTML. It also offers a JavaScript API for more advanced behavioral interactions. Google describes the Mashup Editor as "a great tool for grabbing information from feeds and letting users see and manipulate it."

    http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/6138/gmeeditorfn6.jpg
    Google Mashups Editor, showing code for a 'Hello, World' application.

    Documentation

    For keen developers who haven't yet received access to the beta, there is a strong set of resources you can use to start learning the GME application functionality, structure, code and controls that don't require a login. Ample documentation is available, including a diagram of the application structure and a comprehensive tag reference. Typical of Google, the documentation is the bare necessities, without even a index of the listed tags at the top of the reference page. Also, there is currently a short list of articles & tutorials, a FAQ, the official project blog, and, of course, a Google Group.

    Components

    The application itself is divided into 3 main parts: the Editor, Feed Browser and Sandbox. A screenshot of each is included in this article.

    The Editor is for building projects. Each project can have multiple GML files (I'd guess that stands for Google Markup Language, but it's not documented), and you can also upload resource files such as JavaScript or images. Each GML file can contain a mix of XML, HTML, JS, CSS and the GME tags. The examples don't encourage good coding practices, but at least you have a lot of flexibility with how you code the applications.

    http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/5364/gmebrowserky4.jpg
    The GME Feed Browser, browsing the Read/WriteWeb feed.

    The GME Feed Browser is a convenient tool for checking your source feeds. You can use Google Base, or external feeds that you source yourself. The documentation frequently suggests using Yahoo! Pipes to clean up feeds before bringing them into GME. It offers some simple options for choosing the maximum number of results and pages you want returned.

    The Sandbox is the simplest of the GME components. It's a running version of your applications. Just hit 'Test' in the Editor and, after a sluggish pause, you're automatically delivered to the Sandbox where your application begins running. You can test all functionality and see how your app will look. It also offers a simple option for viewing it as a Google Gadget.

    http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/4051/gmesandboxrq7.jpg
    The GME Sandbox, displaying a quick basic app I wrote for reading Read/WriteWeb feeds.

    Publication

    Publishing is as simple as pressing a button and choosing a name for your application. That name becomes the subdomain at googlemashups.com, such as this sample application at http://mapwiki.googlemashups.com/. Google curates a full gallery of other mashups. Getting your mashup live and into that gallery as quickly as possible will result in massive exposure - the balance will be making sure it's good enough to stand out.

    Conclusion

    The Google Mashup Editor is an incredibly powerful tool for rapid testing and deployment of mashup concepts, particularly those that utilize Google services or products. This opens the space to all those developers who don't have their own servers to play on and gives them a framework to kickstart development. It's simple easy and fun to produce something very quickly, but it will be much harder to produce fantastic products. Nonetheless, the cost-savings in development time are going to make this a popular testbed for all sorts of concepts. Google Mashup Editor is a name you will hear a lot in future.
  • Willmonwah, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3Here's a simple aggregation of feeds I made using GME, including one where you can create entries and update: http://willmonwah.googlemashups.com/
  • grapeape25, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3DML
  • zachninme, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2Wow, thats old. Its been out for what, 3 months?

    Also, for all of you wanting to try this, unless you can develop apps in Javascript/Google's XML system, it won't help you.
  • joeblow1102, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2GML, FBML, what's next?
  • kurupttek, on 10/10/2007, -10/+5WHERE CAN I GET MY HANDS ON THIS
  • frederoil, on 10/10/2007, -9/+3No one cares. Yeah, that's right. I said it. Losers.
  • plbland, on 10/10/2007, -10/+3http://duggmirror.com/tech_news/Google_Mashup_Editor_2/
  • basye, on 10/10/2007, -17/+4Removing "share my thoughts with you" would make this a more credible piece.
  • donkeyshow, on 10/10/2007, -19/+452 diggs and the lousy website is already frozen? POS.

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