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Perhaps our experiences are different, I've noticed the opposite. There will always be a strong role for GIS applications, but I rarely see geospatial problem s

Perhaps our experiences are different, I've noticed the opposite. There will always be a strong role for GIS applications, but I rarely see geospatial problem solving these days that doesn't require some amount of code. I still do 50%+ of my work in QGIS and find the embedded python interpreter to be essential. There are very few projects where I don't open it up, or otherwise have organized/cleaned the data beforehand (often with python, I'm a one trick pony). In 2017 so far only one project has not required some coding, and that was a print map for a small transit agency. All the data could be easily hand-digitized.

llccbb 9y ago
Absolutely. The longer I can avoid opening a GUI the better.
Boothroid 9y ago
The issue is the same as with code everywhere: unless you start from a position of discipline you can easily end up in trouble - code that was intended to be throwaway ends up in production, code gets shared around and modified hence duplication and difficulty in maintenance.. I could go on. Suffice to say in my experience the majority of organisations that have a GIS requirement of any significance usually seek to control code tightly, and would rather spend money on a COTS solution that can be operated by a relatively cheap GIS analyst, rather than hiring in more expensive dev skills - the dev work can be performed by dedicated devs or contracted out as necessary. Similarly the demand for apps with a geospatial element has exploded and the last thing a GIS manager wants to do is to have heaps of custom code written for an app that may only be used for a month, for example. It's in this situation that wizard driven app creation is valuable, with perhaps minimal code for special requirements. I don't like it because you see deskilling of GIS analysts at one end, and deskilling of GIS devs at the other - but this seems to be an emerging trend. I'll certainly acknowledge though that the profusion of free tools and data are shaking things up, so I'd be happy to see it continue. ARC/INFO was command line, lest we forget.
zzleeper 9y ago
By the way, I've found myself clicking too much on stuff with QGIS, and often having to repeat myself later if the input data changes. Is there a way to save the clicks as macros, or perhaps at least get an idea of the underlying commands behind the clicks (load vector, update extents, change colors, intersect geometries, etc.)? I know python so I would love to have a CLI to QGIS, but can't find anything on this.
- Jill_the_Pill 9y ago
  Read up on the "graphical modeler" for QGIS and see if that's what you're looking for.

llccbb 9y ago

Absolutely. The longer I can avoid opening a GUI the better.

Boothroid 9y ago

The issue is the same as with code everywhere: unless you start from a position of discipline you can easily end up in trouble - code that was intended to be throwaway ends up in production, code gets shared around and modified hence duplication and difficulty in maintenance.. I could go on. Suffice to say in my experience the majority of organisations that have a GIS requirement of any significance usually seek to control code tightly, and would rather spend money on a COTS solution that can be operated by a relatively cheap GIS analyst, rather than hiring in more expensive dev skills - the dev work can be performed by dedicated devs or contracted out as necessary. Similarly the demand for apps with a geospatial element has exploded and the last thing a GIS manager wants to do is to have heaps of custom code written for an app that may only be used for a month, for example. It's in this situation that wizard driven app creation is valuable, with perhaps minimal code for special requirements. I don't like it because you see deskilling of GIS analysts at one end, and deskilling of GIS devs at the other - but this seems to be an emerging trend. I'll certainly acknowledge though that the profusion of free tools and data are shaking things up, so I'd be happy to see it continue. ARC/INFO was command line, lest we forget.

zzleeper 9y ago

By the way, I've found myself clicking too much on stuff with QGIS, and often having to repeat myself later if the input data changes. Is there a way to save the clicks as macros, or perhaps at least get an idea of the underlying commands behind the clicks (load vector, update extents, change colors, intersect geometries, etc.)? I know python so I would love to have a CLI to QGIS, but can't find anything on this.

Jill_the_Pill 9y ago
Read up on the "graphical modeler" for QGIS and see if that's what you're looking for.