Creating JavaScript applications

If you want to embed lightweight mapping functionality into a Web application, or if you're just getting started with ArcGIS Server development, consider using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript. All you need is an ArcGIS Server available whose maps and tools you can use in your application. ESRI provides some sample servers for this purpose. To get started, see the ArcGIS API for JavaScript home page.

The JavaScript API is powered by a back-end REST API that is able to retrieve information statelessly from the server. When you run the application, the code runs in the browser instead of having to run on the server. This provides a quick and clean client experience. The JavaScript API is built on top of the Dojo JavaScript toolkit, so you don't have to worry about accommodating browser idiosyncracies in your code; the framework handles it for you.

You can use the JavaScript API even if you have little or no coding experience. Copy and paste the example code into your HTML pages to add mapping functionality.

Additionally, you can use the JavaScript API to overlay your data and maps on top of basemap services provided by ArcGIS Online.

When writing applications with the JavaScript API, you'll need to provide the URLs to maps and other resources on your server. You can use the ArcGIS Services Directory to find these Web addresses. For examples, see the Services Directory Help page at http://<server name>/<instance name>/SDK/REST/servicesdirectory.html.

ArcGIS Server also includes extensions for well-known online mapping APIs for JavaScript:

• ArcGIS Extension for the Google Maps API

  This extension for the Google Maps API allows you to integrate your maps with the Google Maps base layers. You can perform query and geoprocessing tasks on your services and work with the results as features. You can also publish your content as a Google Mapplet.

  To get started, see the ArcGIS Extension for the Google Maps API home page.

• ArcGIS Extension for Bing Maps

  This extension for Bing Maps allows you to display your maps over the Bing Maps basemaps in 2D or 3D. You can perform query and geoprocessing tasks on your services and work with the results as VEShapes. You can also perform geocoding operations and view the results on the basemap.

  To get started, see the ArcGIS Extension for Bing Maps home page.