Interactive maps are becoming more and more widespread in modern web applications. However, although many of today’s web applications could make good use of integrated mapping software, development teams often shy away from the complexity of integrating a full-fledged geographical database system.

Two relatively recent technologies, Google Maps and Ajax, can make life considerably easier in this area. This article is designed to give you a rapid introduction to both Google Maps and Ajax, and to let you get your own interactive maps up and running quickly and easily.