Google Gadgets

Last updated

Google Gadgets are dynamic web content that can be embedded on a web page. They can be added to and interact strongly with Google's iGoogle personalized home page (discontinued in November 2013, although iGoogle Gadgets still work on other websites) and the Google Desktop (discontinued in September 2011) application, as well as Google Wave (also no longer supported by Google) and Google Sites. Webmasters can add and customize a gadget to their own business or personal web site, a process called "syndication".

Contents

Gadgets are developed by Google and third-party developers using the Google Gadgets API, using basic web technologies such as XML and JavaScript.

Multi-user persistent - Wave Gadgets

With the advent of Google Wave (now Apache Wave), gadgets became able to have persistent storage and multi-user capabilities and better state management. Gadgets using Google Wave in this way were simply known as 'Wave Gadgets'. For instance, a game written using a Google Gadget could use Google Wave technology to record a list of users and high scores without having to worry about how to permanently store the scores on a hosted server. The use of Google Wave would give the gadget multi-user and permanent storage capabilities. For example, scores could be stored in a Google Wave hosted permanently by Google at no cost to the user.

As of early 2013, Google Gadgets were deprecated in Google Spreadsheets. Shortly after, they were removed from all spreadsheets. [1] [2]

Technology

Google Gadgets are written in XML and can have HTML and JavaScript components, and were able to use Google Wave. [3]

Here is an example of a Hello World program written using Google Gadget technology.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><Module><ModulePrefstitle="Hello world example"/><Contenttype="html"><![CDATA[ <marquee>Hello world!</marquee>     ]]></Content></Module>

Google Gadgets API is a Google API which allows developers to create Google Gadgets easily. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Document Object Model</span> Convention for representing and interacting with objects in HTML, XHTML, and XML documents

The Document Object Model (DOM) is a cross-platform and language-independent interface that treats an HTML or XML document as a tree structure wherein each node is an object representing a part of the document. The DOM represents a document with a logical tree. Each branch of the tree ends in a node, and each node contains objects. DOM methods allow programmatic access to the tree; with them one can change the structure, style or content of a document. Nodes can have event handlers attached to them. Once an event is triggered, the event handlers get executed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WebObjects</span> Java web application server and framework originally developed by NeXT Software

WebObjects was a Java web application server and a server-based web application framework originally developed by NeXT Software, Inc.

Apache Cocoon, usually abbreviated as Cocoon, is a web application framework built around the concepts of Pipeline, separation of concerns, and component-based web development. The framework focuses on XML and XSLT publishing and is built using the Java programming language. Cocoon's use of XML is intended to improve compatibility of publishing formats, such as HTML and PDF. The content management systems Apache Lenya and Daisy have been created on top of the framework. Cocoon is also commonly used as a data warehousing ETL tool or as middleware for transporting data between systems.

Ajax is a set of web development techniques that uses various web technologies on the client-side to create asynchronous web applications. With Ajax, web applications can send and retrieve data from a server asynchronously without interfering with the display and behaviour of the existing page. By decoupling the data interchange layer from the presentation layer, Ajax allows web pages and, by extension, web applications, to change content dynamically without the need to reload the entire page. In practice, modern implementations commonly utilize JSON instead of XML.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apache Tapestry</span> Open-source web application framework

Apache Tapestry is an open-source component-oriented Java web application framework conceptually similar to JavaServer Faces and Apache Wicket. Tapestry was created by Howard Lewis Ship, and was adopted by the Apache Software Foundation as a top-level project in 2006.

A mashup, in web development, is a web page or web application that uses content from more than one source to create a single new service displayed in a single graphical interface. For example, a user could combine the addresses and photographs of their library branches with a Google map to create a map mashup. The term implies easy, fast integration, frequently using open application programming interfaces and data sources to produce enriched results that were not necessarily the original reason for producing the raw source data. The term mashup originally comes from creating something by combining elements from two or more sources.

WURFL is a set of proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs) and an XML configuration file which contains information about device capabilities and features for a variety of mobile devices, focused on mobile device detection. Until version 2.2, WURFL was released under an "open source / public domain" license. Prior to version 2.2, device information was contributed by developers around the world and the WURFL was updated frequently, reflecting new wireless devices coming on the market. In June 2011, the founder of the WURFL project, Luca Passani, and Steve Kamerman, the author of Tera-WURFL, a popular PHP WURFL API, formed ScientiaMobile, Inc to provide commercial mobile device detection support and services using WURFL. As of August 30, 2011, the ScientiaMobile WURFL APIs are licensed under a dual-license model, using the AGPL license for non-commercial use and a proprietary commercial license. The current version of the WURFL database itself is no longer open source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HTML5</span> Fifth and current version of hypertext markup language

HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML Living Standard. It is maintained by the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), a consortium of the major browser vendors.

Gears, formerly Google Gears, is discontinued utility software offered by Google to create more powerful web apps by adding offline storage and other additional features to web browsers. Released under the BSD license, Gears is free and open-source. Gears was conceived at a time when a comparable alternative was not available. However, Gears was discontinued in favor of the standardized HTML5 methods that eventually became prevalent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OpenSocial</span> Public specification aimed at social networking applications

OpenSocial is a public specification that defines a component hosting environment (container) and a set of common application programming interfaces (APIs) for web applications. Initially, it was designed for social network applications and developed by Google along with MySpace and several other social networks. Recently, it has been adopted as a general use runtime environment for allowing untrusted and partially trusted components from third parties to run in an existing web application. The OpenSocial Foundation moved to integrate or support numerous other Open Web technologies. This includes OAuth and OAuth 2.0, Activity Streams, and Portable Contacts, among others.

Web2py is an open-source web application framework written in the Python programming language. Web2py allows web developers to program dynamic web content using Python. Web2py is designed to help reduce tedious web development tasks, such as developing web forms from scratch, although a web developer may build a form from scratch if required.

A single-page application (SPA) is a web application or website that interacts with the user by dynamically rewriting the current web page with new data from the web server, instead of the default method of a web browser loading entire new pages. The goal is faster transitions that make the website feel more like a native app.

Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) is part of the family of XML markup languages. It mirrors or extends versions of the widely used HyperText Markup Language (HTML), the language in which Web pages are formulated.

A software widget is a relatively simple and easy-to-use software application or component made for one or more different software platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Chrome Frame</span> Plug-in designed for Internet Explorer based on the open-source Chromium project

Google Chrome Frame was a plug-in designed for Internet Explorer based on the open-source Chromium project, first announced on September 22, 2009. It went stable in September 2010, on the first birthday of the project. It was discontinued on February 25, 2014 and is no longer supported.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Closure Tools</span> JavaScript developer toolkit

Google Closure Tools is a set of tools to help developers build rich web applications with JavaScript. It was developed by Google for use in their web applications such as Gmail, Google Docs and Google Maps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">API</span> Software interface between computer programs

An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build or use such a connection or interface is called an API specification. A computer system that meets this standard is said to implement or expose an API. The term API may refer either to the specification or to the implementation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ColdBox Platform</span> Web application framework

ColdBox is a free, open-source, conventions-based, modular web application framework intended for building enterprise applications with ColdFusion (CFML) using a Hierarchical MVC approach.

Google Chrome Experiments Online showroom of web browser based experiments

Google Chrome Experiments is an online showroom of web browser based experiments, interactive programs, and artistic projects. Launched on March 1, 2009, Google Chrome Experiments is an official Google website that was originally meant to test the limits of JavaScript and the Google Chrome browser's performance and abilities. As the project progressed, it took the role of showcasing and experimenting latest open-source web-based technologies, such as JavaScript, HTML5, WebGL, Canvas, SVG, CSS, and some others. All the projects on Chrome experiments are user submitted and are made using open source technologies. As of February 24, 2015, there were 1,000 different Chrome projects posted on the website.

Google APIs are application programming interfaces (APIs) developed by Google which allow communication with Google Services and their integration to other services. Examples of these include Search, Gmail, Translate or Google Maps. Third-party apps can use these APIs to take advantage of or extend the functionality of the existing services.

References

  1. ↑ "More spring cleaning". Google. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Deprecation of Gadgets in Google Spreadsheets". Google. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Get Started Writing Gadgets". Google Developers.
  4. ↑ "Google Real Time Penguin Infographic". Digitrio.com.sg. 16 September 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.