[mapserver-dev] Fwd: [OSGeo-Discuss] Google Summer of Code 2008

[Daniel Morissette]

Steve Lime wrote:
> FYI folks. Would be nice to participate this year. If others agree we should start getting
> some ideas together. A couple of ideas off the top of my head:
> 
>   - KML driver for output, draw and query
>   - implementation of Steve Woodbridge's label collision test idea
> 

Yes, I think we should try to do a better job with GSoC this year. Last 
year if I remember correctly almost all participating projects got 2-3 
students, so it's a shame that MapServer wasn't there.

I went through our brainstorming thread from last year 
(http://www.nabble.com/Google-Summer-of-Code-Ideas-to9378841.html) and 
here are some of the ideas that we could potentially put on our list for 
this year:

   - KML driver
   - label drawing efficiency (building on Steve W.'s bit cache idea)
   - autorotation for polygon features
   - run-time joins for rendering and classification
   - develop a stable C API
   - optimizations for tiled maps, particularly around labeling
     and feature continuity.

We need to keep in mind that SoC projects need to be self contained and 
feasible by a student over the course of a summer. Don't expect students 
to work full time for 3 months on the project... my experience from last 
year is that they don't (or not all of them do anyway).

We'll also need mentors... I was mentor for one of the GDAL SoC projects 
last year and did a poor job due to my lack of availability (or lack of 
commitment?). If we want good results then we need to dedicate some time 
(1-2 hours per week?) or perhaps schedule bi-weekly meetings to stay in 
touch with the student and make sure he's doing okay and making some 
progress. I like the idea of 2 mentors per student that was in Wolf's 
email... a primary mentor and a backup for each project... that would 
definitely help.

Daniel
-- 
Daniel Morissette
http://www.mapgears.com/