View Review Details

Book:   Mapping Hacks
Subject:   Great Mapping Tips Inside!
Date:   2005-09-06 19:42:13
From:   Ian Barr
Rating:  StarStarStarStarStar

As another selection from the "Hacks" series, this book is useful for anyone, whether they have the time to read the whole book, or merely select and use a single hack. The authors have put forth 100 useful hints and tricks to introduce the reader to the world of electronic cartography. Within 1 hour of picking the book up, and choosing a hack at (nearly) random, I had accomplished something that could have taken me 2-3 days to find the tool for the job, figure out how, and then use it.


From pointers on using simple web-based mapping services, such as MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com/), to using GRASS (http://grass.itc.it/) for advanced GIS mapping, to deploying your own basic web-based mapping, this book has all you need to get started, and even finished with whatever you want or need to do with maps.


A few of the hacks could use a bit more explanation, for my tastes, as to be more understandable to tweak, but overall it was an excellent selection, that I would recommend to anyone interested in electronic cartography.

See larger cover

"You don’t need to be working an active project to enjoy this book. But be warned, you will have plenty of project ideas once you start reading through these hacks! "
--Brian Turner, Free Software Magazine