Web maps
This page covers "low level" web mapping services where you basically do all the heavy lifting of designing a web site and embedding a map in it. To me, that is the hardest part so these services are doing the easy parts. :-) I guess that means my expertise is in the back end (server side).
There are high level services too, I know about
- Metroquest
- Wikimapping
Google and ESRI fall somewhere in the middle.
Leaflet or OpenLayers?
or ESRI's proprietary API (well I said "proprietary" so that leaves me out)
or MapZen.js (a version of Leaflet)
or
I have the most experience with OpenLayers and I know it can do what I need it to (edits) so after playing with Leaflet (well mapzen.js actually) all day I am shelving it and going back to OpenLayers.
I just want my projects to move ahead, don't want to play with something gee-whiz cool right now.
Services
What is *, and why would I want to use it?
Curiously it can be difficult to ascertain what many of these companies actually DO.
Boundless Geo
Boundless provides commercial support for open source geo software. In turn they provide direct support to open source, so everyone benefits from their work. By building a stack on this particular set of projects they do a great service to the community even if you don't want to pay them for support.
- QGIS on the desktop
- Composer
- OpenLayers
- GeoServer http://geoserver.org/ Front end for geospatial repository
- GeoGig http://geogig.org/ A geoserver plugin for change management
- GeoWebCache http://geowebcache.org/ will cache pre-rendered tiles coming from Geoerver
- PostGIS Used as a data repository for GeoServer but capable of full SQL processing of spatial data.
See this page: Boundless commited to open source and their github page: https://github.com/boundlessgeo
CampToCamp
CampToCamp supports MapFish built on ExtJS (client) and Pylons (server) http://www.camptocamp.com/en/solution/web-mapping/ MapFish is an open source project, see http://mapfish.org/
Carto
Not sure yet why they exist or what they do. They send me email from time to time.
Free and then expensive once you hit the limit.
MapBox
Provides some totally unusable tile sets that are dark and gloomy.
I think they want you to build your own tile sets and host them there. Provides a way to build tiles I guess.
Free and then expensive once you hit the limit.
Mapzen
Provides a version of Leaflet extended to add their own object.
Demo in "Getting Started" does not work. I was able to get it to display a generic OSM map, not very exciting. I have yet to see any of their tiles
Provider of several services including
- geocoding
- routing
- vector tiles
- 3D rendering engine which seems... of dubious value to me...
Free at this time, until you hit some invisible unstated limit I guess.
Base map data
Googlemaps
You can use Googlemaps as a base layer in your project until you hit some magic invisible limit and then you have to give them money. Personally I am not a big fan of them and don't have it working with Leaflet yet.}
OpenStreetMap
Mentioned here because it is the underpinning of most all the commercial services I have listed. You can simply use their service directly and it will you cost nothing.
Just one tile style available.
Free always.
