From the standpoint of communications engineers convergence is not necessarily about the user interface or the merging of technologies. Convergence of communications is a recognition that a variety of communications can run over the same Internet Protocol-based infrastructure, without building a separate infrastructure for each service. Mashups are a convergent technology of sorts. Mashups that do not use spatial or mapping data are also possible, but the mapping application is likely the first kind that comes to mind when one says "mashup" in the context of the world wide web. Such GIS applications have been available commercially since the 1980's, but it is only since the early 2000's that non-computer-experts have had the tools that allowed such combinations of maps and user-specific data to proliferate on the web.
#Mashup definition software
The mashup combined geographical locations provided by the developer with maps from Google.īefore the availability of the Google maps API, mashup-like applications were being developed mainly with proprietary, complex geographic information systems (GIS) software packages. Tim O'Reilly lists Mashups as one of the Web 2.0 technologies.Ī "mashup" showing locations of coffee houses in Princeton, NJ. Though not restricted to the web, mashups have become an increasingly popular internet paradigm, leading to the creation of a variety of web based mashups. The term has achieved widespread usage in describing this kind of web application since Google introduced its public Google Maps API in 2005. On the web, mashup often refers to an integrated application created by combining of geographical location and other information with a service such as Google maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth.
A mashup is a complex form of data visualization.