4 ms·

Seems like MapTiler is maintaining an open source full stack vector alternative, and OpenLayers[0] looks good as well, so maybe it's time for legacy libraries t

Seems like MapTiler is maintaining an open source full stack vector alternative, and OpenLayers[0] looks good as well, so maybe it's time for legacy libraries to add vector support, or for users to switch libraries? There's even bindings from Maplibre GL to Leaflet [1]. I at least would find it interesting to see the two compared by someone other than me ;). [0] https://openlayers.org/ https://openlayers.org/ [1] https://github.com/maplibre/maplibre-gl-leaflet https://github.com/maplibre/maplibre-gl-leaflet

bdon 4y ago
Well, I wrote one already for leaflet ;) https://github.com/protomaps/protomaps.js https://github.com/protomaps/protomaps.js TBH, the blocker is not demand for vector rendering but the technical difficulty and performance constraints of doing rasterization in the browser.
- sorenjan 4y ago
  Nice! Only on Hacker news can you make a comment about some kind of hypothetical programming project and have the reply be "Yes, I've made one of those already". Do you think it's still too early to switch to vector map data for all clients then? Maybe render raster tiles on demand on the server to those clients that can't handle it?
  - bdon 4y ago
    The barriers to adopting vector-everywhere are social and commercial, not technical. There are a couple great public raster services like osm.org's default style and http://maps.stamen.com http://maps.stamen.com. These are 100% free to use, so they get used everywhere, but incur significant expense to the organizations running (paying) for them. There aren't equivalent solutions in vector-land yet... I wrote a bit about this previously: https://protomaps.com/blog/free-tier-maps https://protomaps.com/blog/free-tier-maps
    - MayeulC 4y ago
      https://maps.qwant.com https://maps.qwant.com uses vector tiles, altough polygon simplification at lower zoom levels could be improved. Their stack is open sorce, described there: https://github.com/Qwant/qwantmaps#tile-server https://github.com/Qwant/qwantmaps#tile-server
- trynewideas 4y ago
  Thanks for this. I remember using MVTs on HTML Canvas with Leaflet via plugin way back in 2017.[1] It wasn't perfect, but browser rendering has definitely been the bigger issue than anything with Leaflet. [1]: https://github.com/SpatialServer/Leaflet.MapboxVectorTile https://github.com/SpatialServer/Leaflet.MapboxVectorTile
- phkahler 4y ago
  Can't you just convert the data to SVG and let the browser display that?
  - bdon 4y ago
    SVG will become sluggish past a few thousand features, which is typical for viewing an urban area on the map.
    - phkahler 4y ago
      >> SVG will become sluggish past a few thousand features, which is typical for viewing an urban area on the map. So lets optimize the browsers SVG rendering?

bdon 4y ago

Well, I wrote one already for leaflet ;) https://github.com/protomaps/protomaps.js https://github.com/protomaps/protomaps.js TBH, the blocker is not demand for vector rendering but the technical difficulty and performance constraints of doing rasterization in the browser.

sorenjan 4y ago
Nice! Only on Hacker news can you make a comment about some kind of hypothetical programming project and have the reply be "Yes, I've made one of those already". Do you think it's still too early to switch to vector map data for all clients then? Maybe render raster tiles on demand on the server to those clients that can't handle it?
- bdon 4y ago
  The barriers to adopting vector-everywhere are social and commercial, not technical. There are a couple great public raster services like osm.org's default style and http://maps.stamen.com http://maps.stamen.com. These are 100% free to use, so they get used everywhere, but incur significant expense to the organizations running (paying) for them. There aren't equivalent solutions in vector-land yet... I wrote a bit about this previously: https://protomaps.com/blog/free-tier-maps https://protomaps.com/blog/free-tier-maps
  - MayeulC 4y ago
    https://maps.qwant.com https://maps.qwant.com uses vector tiles, altough polygon simplification at lower zoom levels could be improved. Their stack is open sorce, described there: https://github.com/Qwant/qwantmaps#tile-server https://github.com/Qwant/qwantmaps#tile-server
trynewideas 4y ago
Thanks for this. I remember using MVTs on HTML Canvas with Leaflet via plugin way back in 2017.[1] It wasn't perfect, but browser rendering has definitely been the bigger issue than anything with Leaflet. [1]: https://github.com/SpatialServer/Leaflet.MapboxVectorTile https://github.com/SpatialServer/Leaflet.MapboxVectorTile
phkahler 4y ago
Can't you just convert the data to SVG and let the browser display that?
- bdon 4y ago
  SVG will become sluggish past a few thousand features, which is typical for viewing an urban area on the map.
  - phkahler 4y ago
    >> SVG will become sluggish past a few thousand features, which is typical for viewing an urban area on the map. So lets optimize the browsers SVG rendering?