Google Maps vs Bing Maps

One of the nice things about Google Maps is the ability to embed a static image of your map, rather than having to use a JavaScript API or resorting to downloading multiple JavaScript files to support the map's features. Simply using a URL to point to one of Google's services was enough when it was used as the SRC attribute of an IMG tag - simple. It was something that was missing, until fairly recently, from Bing Maps.

Fortunately, Bing Maps have caught up and now have a REST API available to support static imagery in the same way as Google Maps. The details can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff701724.aspx.

Simply adding the correct URL to the SRC attribute of an IMG tag creates the correct image to embed thereby avoiding multiple JavaScript downloads and any use of a client-side API.