Google Maps is a desktop and mobile web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, offering satellite imagery, street maps, and Street View perspectives.
Known to developers as the Google Geocoding API, this API makes it possible to work Google maps into any website, but it also allows developers to convert an address to a longitude/latitude coordinate so that the google map can pinpoint the location and provide directions.
When an application makes a request to the API, either an XML or a JSON response is given with loads of information including a formatted address and the geometric location.
More information can be found on the Google Developers page titled The Google Geocoding API.
Google gives us various examples and working code for a few languages. Visit their getting started pages for JavaScript or even iOS (Objective-C or Swift).
