in-process vs. over the wire map generation for simple GUI app

[Stephen Woodbridge]

Joe,

I think there are a lot a variables that need to be considered, like
performance, tolerance to wire outages, etc.

In general, I would try to keep things modular and general unless there
is an over-riding need to do otherwise. If you don't need in-process
generation there are a lot of benefits for doing it over the wire even
if the wire is to the same processor. Once you define an API, you can
change one module without change all the modules. You would end up using
less memory when you were not generating maps which might be needed for
other processes. If there are ever multiple clients like in a workgroup
then setting up a single server to service them all keeps disk/hardware
requires lower.

In general, don't build monoliths :) they tend to be big and hard to
maintain.

My 2 cents,
   -Steve W.

Joseph Bussell wrote:
> Greetings Listers,
>   What would folks use when an application must produce maps as a side
> effect?  Would you go for an in-process map generation method?   If so,
> what would you use?  Alternatively, would you use a mapserver backend
> that the local process would communicate with?  Any thoughts would be
> appreciated.
>
> Cordially,
>
> Joe Bussell
> On Time Systems
>