Spreadsheets charts and Fusion Tables are accessible entry points when starting to work with Google Visualizations. They provide insight and structure to fairly complex visualizations without requiring immense investment in learning API calls. While they do pose limitations in comparison to the API, Spreadsheets and Fusion Tables provide a simple method of creating visualizations, which can in turn be expanded by using Google API capabilities.

Note that advanced layering technique or view control customization is not part of the GUI Fusion Tables. Manipulating these advanced features, such as user defined search filters, unique styling of controls, and layer manipulation in the user interface must be developed using the Fusion Tables API, Maps API, and Visualization API. Data from Spreadsheets and particularly Fusion Tables is encouraged and these applications become primary data sources with bonus features that can only be unlocked through the API methods. Publishing options for the visualizations discussed in this chapter will be addressed in Chapter 9, Publishing Options.

In the next chapter, the creation of some basic visualizations shown as part of this chapter is discussed, but this time directly using the Visualization API.