[Geowanking] [OSM-talk] book recommendation (was: colour fills in osmarender)

[Nick Black]

On 6/10/06, Lars Aronsson <lars at aronsson.se> wrote:
>
> Tom Carden wrote:
>
> > > > I believe we shouldn't have loops of any sort. routing
> > > > algorithms like to have straight simple topologies.
>
> > Absolutely agree.  I think ways as a data type will be pointless if
> > they allow loops and branches, and I've always said so.
>
> Can anybody here recommend a useful book on basic data structures
> and algorithms for GIS?  I only have "Mapping Hacks", which shows
> very simple cookbook recipies that never go deep enough, and "Web
> Mapping Illustrated", which is a guide to using the UMN MapServer.
> Both are good books, but not for this purpose.
>
> Nine textbook titles are listed at the end of Wikipedia article
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system#Textbooks
> Does any of these address low-level programming?
>
> A useful book would answer questions like the following.  I don't
> need list members to answer these questions now.  I need a book
> title that we can recommend newcomer OpenStreetMap developers to
> read before asking these questions.  I think most newcomers will
> be, just like I am, good programmers with very little GIS
> background.
>
> - What does geoid and datum mean to cartographers?
>
> - What are different map projections used for, and how can one
> benefit from using PROJ.4 instead of coding the conversions from
> scratch?


For datums etc the only book worth touching is "*Datums and Map Projections
(Paperback) *
by Jonathan C. Iliffe<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Jonathan%20C.%20Iliffe&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/104-8001474-3048722>"
- *ISBN:* 1870325281


- When are vector data used and when are raster data used?  How
> do map projection conversions apply to the two kinds of data?
> What "famous" algorithms exist for the two kinds?
>
> - To what extent do GIS systems use linear line segments instead
> of curve splines, and why?  (With surprise I learned from earlier
> messages on this list that all use linear segments, virtually
> nobody uses splines.)
>
> - Why do GIS systems use line trains (polylines) instead of
> simple line segments?
>
> - How can MapServer be so fast in rescaling, resizing, and
> cropping maps when my home-written code is so slow?
>
> - How do route optimizers work, and what kind of data structures
> do they need?
>
> - How should overlapping roads best be represented?




  *Introduction to Spatial Databases: Applications to GIS
Philippe Rigaux<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books-uk&field-author=Rigaux%2C%20Philippe/202-2709838-2887065>,
Michel Scholl<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books-uk&field-author=Scholl%2C%20Michel/202-2709838-2887065>,
Agnes Voisard<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books-uk&field-author=Voisard%2C%20Agnes/202-2709838-2887065>,
Michel INRIA, Serves, France)
Scholl<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books-uk&field-author=Scholl%2C%20Michel%20INRIA%2C%20Serves%2C%20France%29/202-2709838-2887065>
*

 *ISBN:* 1558605886


- How should roundabouts best be represented?
>
> - Can a street have two separate parts that aren't connected?
>
> - How can house numbers be assigned along a street, and how is
> that best represented in a GIS system?
>
> - How has GIS technology evolved over the last couple of
> decades?  What is the current state of commercial and free
> software, and what should we expect from the coming decade?


And... Worboys.  But I think that Spatial Databases: Applications to GIS is
better than Worboys.

Hope these help.

Nick
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