How to convert an address into a Google Maps Link (NOT MAP)

Question

After looking (Googling) on the web for a while, I can find nothing that takes an address like:

1200 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20003

and converts it into a clickable link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=1200+Pennsylvania+Ave+SE,+Washington,+District+of+Columbia,+20003&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=44.118686,114.169922&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FT5MUQIdIDlp-w&split=0&ll=38.882147,-76.99017&spn=0.01064,0.027874&z=16&iwloc=A

jQuery or PHP preferred or just any useful information on this.

Answer 1

How about this?

https://maps.google.com/?q=1200 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20003

https://maps.google.com/?q=term

If you have lat-long then use below URL

https://maps.google.com/?ll=latitude,longitude

Example: maps.google.com/?ll=38.882147,-76.99017

UPDATE

As of year 2017, Google now has an official way to create cross-platform Google Maps URLs:

https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/urls/guide

You can use links like

https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=1200%20Pennsylvania%20Ave%20SE%2C%20Washington%2C%20District%20of%20Columbia%2C%2020003