ddj

DDJ on “The Return of the Desktop”

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Okay, I swear I’m not on the DDJ payroll, but this article caught my eye immediately. Michael Swaine has been on a roll lately but I think this one just drips with significance for the GIS community.

Over the past 10 years, as everyone has run screaming from the desktop, I’ve been a little mystified as to why it was considered a good thing to reduce a CPU more powerful than everything NASA had in 1969 to a mere vehicle for a browser. The browser-based model reduced our computers to really cool-looking equivalents of a VT220 so it’s nice to see that the market is starting to gain back a little sanity.

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New DDJ Column on Concurrency

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Anyone who has browsed this blog enough has probably figured out that I am a fan of Doctor Dobb’s Journal. This month’s issue inaugurates a new column by Herb Sutter dealing with concurrency. In my opinion, the confluence of mult-processor/multi-core systems with a greater emphasis on server-based GIS makes concurrency a huge issue for the … Read more New DDJ Column on Concurrency

DDJ Article on MyMap Javascript API

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An article in the latest Dr. Dobb’s caught my eye. It’s about MyMap; a javascript api that standardizes the calls between Google Maps, Yahoo Maps and Virtual Earth. I’m always drawn when mapping tools get press outside of the GIS world. MyMap is predicated on the idea that each mapping engine provides similar capabilities. There … Read more DDJ Article on MyMap Javascript API

Good Article on Optimizing Open-Source Software

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There’s been a lot of recent buzz about open-source GIS software. Good discussions can be found at James Fee’s site, plus Datum Shift as well as on Dave Bouwman’s blog. Given all of this discussion, I found this article in Dr. Dobb’s Journal to be rather timely. It’s not about GIS software per se but … Read more Good Article on Optimizing Open-Source Software