Google Maps API and LinkedIn

Hi.

I have almost no idea what I’m doing, so I’m looking for advice.

I’m building an application that allows users to network with others using their linkedin accounts. The application asks the user for permission to access their linkedin information. It returns their name and city and state. I want this information to be stored somewhere so I can drop a pin on a Google Map for every user that allows this.

What I’m guessing is that every time someone allows access, I should take their information and store it in an XML file, and then use PHP to pull all the locations stored in that XML file and place pins on the map. Does this sound right? What is the cleanest/best way to do this? Thank you!

Also where can I learn how to do this? Thanks.

Instead of XML, I’d recommend a database. The reason is because it’ll be much easier to remove entries from a database than XML.

You’ll also need some form of server-side scripting language. I’d recommend PHP (server-side scripting language) and MySQL (free database server).

If you’ve never done any of this before than you have a good deal of work ahead of you. =)

First you’ll need basic HTML.
Then you’ll need Javascript (for the Google MAP API).
You’ll need PHP and MySQL for the Linkedin stuff and pulling out the information.

I recommend picking up some books on each topic. Sitepoint has some good ones. There are also lots of free tutorials all over the web.

If you let us know about your experience we could probably help you pick a decent starting point.