#! code

There are a few URL shortening services about, of which bit.ly is just one. However, it does provide a nice API for developers to interact with the site. Not only is it possible to shorten URL's, you can also reverse them, find out information about the site and get information about how many people have used to link. The API requires you to create an account to interact with the API. Once you have created an account you can use the API service.

TinyURL is a service where you can convert a long URL string to a really small one. For instance, the following URL, which points to the Googleplex on Google Maps.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=googleplex&sll=37.579413,-95.712891&sspn=34.512672,45.615234&ie=UTF8&cd=1&z=16

Can be converted to the following.

Converting from PostCode to map reference is far from accurate, but it can be done using the Google Maps API. You can get a Google Maps API key from Google by just asking for it, although you are limited to a certain number of requests each day.

Google Maps usually works through JavaScript, but it is possible to ask Google to return the data in JSON format and then use the PHP function json_decode() to decode the information into a usable array format. To get Google to return the data in JSON you must pass the parameter "output=json" in your query string.