Following Google's Example - Street View Service I was able to make a very simple map to get myself started. I haven't signed up for an API Key though.
Tutorials I've read such as Tutsplus - Getting creative with the Google Maps API says it should be the first step.
That I should have a line:
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=YOUR_API_KEY_GOES_HERE&sensor=true"></script>
But at least in this initial example from Google it works just fine with:
<script src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?v=3.exp"></script>
I read:
But they don't really answer my more generalized question. When is it needed that I signup for the API Key? What limitations do I face by not signing up and just using the ..js?v=3.exp
instead? Is there some other thing I should be using... one of those two SO questions mentions ...maps/api/js?sensor=false
for example?