MapBox GL JS
- Many different APIs out there.
- Leaflet
- <Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.> Maps API
- Mapzen
- Mapbox JS
- Mapbox GL JS
- We’re going to use Mapbox GL JS
- Uses WebGL (web graphics library)
- 3d/2d graphics in web browsers (desktop/mobile) without plugins.
- GPU (graphics processing unit) driven – video game-like graphics
- Open source
One advantage of using GL/vector tiles vs. raster tiles:
- Layers
- Mapbox JS and Leaflet have baselayers and overlays
- Baselayers: image tiles that make up the basemap, lots of data but not very interactive
- Overlays: usually vector data like geojson, contain less data but more interactive
- Mapbox GL JS sends data to the client, along with certain rules saying how to visualize it – NO DISTINCTION
