[webmap-discuss] Choosing a Web Mapping Platform Wiki

[Richard Greenwood]

On 9/24/06, Paul Spencer <pspencer at dmsolutions.ca> wrote:
> Rich,
>
> I struggled with wording and have no problems changing it.  Perhaps
> we need to develop a dictionary/glossary for web-mapping terms so
> that everything we talk about has some static reference point that
> (hopefully) we agree on.
>
> For instance, client can mean:
>
> * the application produced by a developer using the toolkit (client -
> server)
> * browser technology
> * person (developer) choosing which toolkit to use
> * end user of the application that the person (developer) is going to
> make
> * person (company) hiring person (developer) to build an application
> for their clients

Yep, "client" is a pretty broad term. I took the liberty of adding:
"This page focuses primarily on Open Source browser-based clients (not
the servers)."


> Expanding the matrix is a bit problematic since we are limited to two
> dimensions.  I was hoping that it would be somehow really simple.
> Perhaps the whole thing would be better presented as a flow chart and
> a series of binary questions that direct a potential developer.

I think a flow chart would be really hard because different project
requirements are going to drive your priorities. For example, I have a
project right now where the client is requiring that I use ArcIMS
server, so a WMS client is my highest priority, and I would want it as
the first junction in a flow chart. However somebody else may require
digitizing, so they would want to start their flow with that. I'm
still keen on a grid with foot notes and hyperlinks to add more
dimensionality, but I'd like to hear comments from others.

Rich

-- 
Richard Greenwood
richard.greenwood at gmail.com
www.greenwoodmap.com