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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 fo

by 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?

by bdon 4y ago

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?