What is Google Apps Script and How Can it Help Businesses?

Google Apps Script is a scripting language by Google that extends the functionality of its products. If you’re familiar with VBA for Microsoft products, think of Google Apps Script as its equivalent in the Google Workspace ecosystem.

It automates tasks within Google apps, connects them to each other, and integrates with external services. With just a few lines of code, you can build solutions to automate, integrate, and extend your Google Workspace, offering a simple and efficient way for businesses to streamline workflows.

How can businesses leverage Google Apps Script?

Here are a few interesting ways businesses can leverage Google Apps Script:

1. Tasks Automation: Google Apps Script automates tasks in Google Workspace, especially in Google Sheets. It helps automate repetitive actions and manipulate data. For example, you can use it to generate and send invoices to clients directly from a spreadsheet.
2. Web Apps: Google Apps Script can publish web apps hosted on Google servers. These apps can be used to build tools like project management systems, time-off managers, budget trackers, inventory systems, CRMs, and sales dashboards.
3. Custom Menus, Dialogs, and Sidebars: You can add custom menus, dialogs, and sidebars to Google Docs, Sheets, and Forms, adding more functionalities to your documents and creating a more user-friendly interface.
4. Integration with Google Services: Google Apps Script can interact with 100+ other Google services, including YouTube, Calendar, Drive, Gmail, and Google Maps. This allows you to create applications that leverage these services, such as automating email sending with Gmail, or creating calendar events with Calendar.
5. Integration with External Services: Google Apps Script can also interact with APIs from all over the web. This provides businesses with a lot of flexibility in integrating external services into their workflows. Examples of services include Salesforce, Amazon, Twilio, Stripe, Slack, etc.
6. Add-ons for Google Workspace: You can build add-ons using Google Apps Script and publish them to the Google Workspace Marketplace or deploy them only in the workspace of your organization. These add-ons can extend the functionality of Google Workspace, providing additional tools for users.

What do I need to get started?

Google Script was created to help professionals in all domains with little or no coding experience leverage its power. Any professional with a Google account can learn Google Script.

You don’t need a lot of prerequisites, but having some foundational programming knowledge is required. Here are 3 things you need to know:

1. Basic JavaScript Knowledge: Since Google Apps Script is based on JavaScript, understanding JavaScript fundamentals like variables, functions, loops, and conditionals is essential.
   Here is a basic JavaScript course.
2. Basic HTML and CSS: While not strictly necessary, some knowledge of HTML and CSS can be useful, especially if you plan to create custom interfaces or web apps.
   Here is an HTML course and a CSS course.
3. Familiarity with Google Workspace: Knowing how to use Google Workspace apps like Sheets, Docs, and Gmail will help you understand how to extend their functionality with scripts.

If you want to learn more about Google Apps Script the official Google Apps Script documentation is a great place to start. It provides guides, reference materials, and sample code.