MapQuest

General Overview

With the MapQuest ® Platform: Free Edition, developers can use the MapQuest Platform’s open map APIs and developer tools to build innovative mapping solutions for a wide range of web, wireless and desktop applications. Free Edition offers free access to many of the features and functionality of the MapQuest Platform, an advanced geospatial web services platform and comprehensive toolset.

Whether you’re building something cool for a start-up or creating a map mashup for your blog, our free open map APIs and developer mapping tools make it easy for you to include custom data into your map application. You’ll have the flexibility to mix and match languages and features to build your mapping application just the way you want it.

The MapQuest Platform: Free Edition includes free unlimited use of the following features so you can create an engaging online experience for your users:

• Maps and Aerial Imagery
• Advanced spatial search and reliable geocoding
• Routing capabilities that provide driving directions including the U.S. and many international locations

Access to the MapQuest Platform: Free Edition also gives you full use of:

• Six free map APIs and developer tools
• MapQuest’s Data Manager for uploading and managing your location data to incorporate spatial searching within your application

The MapQuest Platform

The MapQuest ® Platform provides a framework so developers don’t have to build online mapping applications from scratch. You’ll have a foundation to develop and integrate free mapping solutions for your unique situation. The MapQuest Platform provides functionality in three areas: Visualization, Search, and Guidance.

• Visualization functions relate to the way users manipulate digital cartographic maps and aerial and satellite imagery.
• Search functionality enables users to enter an address, description, or other location information to find places within a predefined boundary.
• With Guidance functions, users can get walking or driving directions to the destinations of their choice.

These services combine mapping data from a variety of industry-leading sources, including data for many international locations.

Click here for more | Read the MapQuest DevBlog

Free Edition Features

Developer Productivity

MapQuest Platform Services provides a broad collection of “out of the box” capabilities for building advanced interactive mapping applications. Developers can implement many mapping features with just a few lines of code and draw from a library of code snippets and sample applications from the MapQuest Developer Network to get a free mapping solution up and running quickly.

Developer Choice

MapQuest Platform Services offers an array of free mapping APIs that open the door to greater interactivity, lower development cost, and quicker rollout of your mapping solutions. The MapQuest Platform: Free Edition’s flexible open map APIs allow developers to build rich multi-media applications using a variety of supported programming languages and environments:

• JavaScript™ API
• AS3 API
• FUJAX API
• Java™ API
• C++ API
• .NET API

JavaScript ™ API - With our JavaScript API you can create interactive pages and easily integrate them into a JavaScript-based website.

Adobe ® Flex ® and Flash ™ (AS3 API) - Our AS3 API allows you to build map applications using native Adobe ® ActionScript™ 3. Developers and designers can access the MapQuest Platform with the AS3 API using the components included for Adobe ® Flex™ Builder™ 2 and Adobe ® Creative Suite ® 3 (CS3), making building free mapping applications a drag and drop experience.

• No server-side proxy needed - When you build applications that run in Flash, you are no longer required to have a proxy server to handle traffic back to the MapQuest servers.

FUJAX API – (Flash Under JavaScript And XML) This AJAX performance booster enables developers to write applications in JavaScript that leverage the power of Flash.

Java ™ API – You can use our Java API when you need to leverage the full capabilities of the Java language and deploy to a scalable, powerful cross-platform infrastructure.

C++ API - Server-side applications that require speed and performance will benefit from our C++ API .

.NET API - Our .NET API provides access to the capabilities of the MapQuest Platform when building .NET based applications.

Click here for more features

Ready To Get Started?

Sign up for the MapQuest Platform: Free Edition on MapQuest Developer Network and start building innovative mapping applications today.

Sample Code

• The AIM Map Phone: The AIM Map Phone combines C# and .NET to build a Voice over IP phone plus the MapQuest .NET API to build a phone that displays the location of the person you’re calling. Get the code.
• MapQuest Mac OS X Dashboard Widget: Build a Mac OS X Dashboard widget that provides mapping, point-to-point directions, and integration with the built-in Address book application - all powered by the MapQuest Platform Get the code.
• AIM Double-blind conversation: A Real Estate Mashup to enable a conversation where one side need not have an AIM ID, and neither side sees the other's screenname. Sets up a chat between a buyer and closest available 'neighborhood chatter'. Get the code.
• Pictures of Places: A simple search for pictures of cities or countries Get the code.
• Sample Geocoding Map: This sample demonstrates the basic maps being generated for the location details entered after geocoding. Get the code.
• Sample Routing Map: This sample demonstrates the basic maps being generated from a start location to an end location. Get the code.
• Sample Map with User Defined Rollover: This sample demonstrates the basic map from javascript objects functionality with user defined rollover settings. Get the code.
• Sample with Map: Widget color overridden with local css.: This sample demonstrates the basic maps from javascript objects and also with a default css overriding the existing css. Get the code.
• Mapzierge: A maps and events mashup using the MapQuest and EVDB APIs. Enter a location to get a map of the area and then find local events. Get the code.
• Besternews: News aggregation service with geocoding for regionalization. Includes finance, sports and other topics. Get the code.