Upgrade to Pro
— share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …
Speaker Deck
Sign up for free
Menu
Search
Features
All features
Private URLs
Password Protection
Custom URLS
Scheduled publishing
Remove Branding
Restrict embedding
Deck Collections
Notes
Features
All features
Private URLs
Password Protection
Custom URLS
Scheduled publishing
Remove Branding
Restrict embedding
Deck Collections
Notes
Explore
Featured decks
Featured speakers
Programming
Technology
Storyboards
Explore
Featured decks
Featured speakers
Programming
Technology
Storyboards
Pricing
Search
Sign in
Sign up for free
How Vector Maps Work (2019)
Search
Sponsored
·
Ship Features Fearlessly
Turn features on and off without deploys. Used by thousands of Ruby developers.
→
Vladimir Agafonkin
April 08, 2019
Programming
510
1
Share
Embed
Copy iframe code
Copy JS code
Copy link
Start on current slide
How Vector Maps Work (2019)
Vladimir Agafonkin
April 08, 2019
More Decks by Vladimir Agafonkin
See All by Vladimir Agafonkin
Fast by Default: Algorithmic Optimization in Practice (dotJS 2019)
mourner
0
2.2k
Fast by Default: Algorithmic Optimization in Practice (JSCamp 2019)
mourner
0
670
Fast by default: everyday algorithmic thinking for developers [RU]
mourner
1
570
Fast by default: everyday algorithmic thinking for developers
mourner
1
540
Mapbox GL: How vector maps work
mourner
0
480
Random cool stuff I've been hacking on (mostly spatial indices)
mourner
0
630
Как работают современные интерактивные карты на WebGL
mourner
1
570
Leaflet, WebGL & the Future of Web Mapping
mourner
5
3.5k
How Simplicity Will Save GIS
mourner
11
4.5k
Other Decks in Programming
See All in Programming
Go × SIMDで高速化するベクトル検索 ~ルーフラインモデルでSIMDが効く境界を探れ! ~
po3rin
1
6k
設計次第でAIコードの読む量は減らせる / designing-for-code-reading
minodriven
33
14k
WebRTC映像をAirPlayに対応させる挑戦.pdf
monolithic_adam
0
330
世界の中心で、AI(App Intents)をさけぶ ー App Intents中心設計の実践ガイド
touyou
0
760
AWSに止められる覚悟してますか?
morizo_1984
2
500
Embedded Swiftで作る自作USBデバイス によるiOSデバイスの自動テスト / iOSDC Japan 2026 glassfiber
glassfiber
0
270
大喜利で理解するLLM as a Judge / Understanding LLM-as-a-Judge through Ogiri
rockname
0
190
Ghostty + Neovimで作る 透明でカッコ良い開発環境
j341nono
0
150
AI Agent時代のリアーキテクチャ戦略と実践
hokaccha
9
5.3k
Vue Fes Japan 2026 タイムテーブル徹底解説
448jp
1
590
App Storeの外へ──日本のiOSサイドローディング入門 for iOSDC Japan 2026
yuukiw00w
0
290
テストを司るデーモンに会いに行く 〜隔離した仮想マシンでテストを通すまで〜
h1d3mun3
1
600
Featured
See All Featured
[RailsConf 2023 Opening Keynote] The Magic of Rails
eileencodes
31
10k
My Coaching Mixtape
mlcsv
0
330
ラッコキーワード サービス紹介資料
rakko
1
5.1M
Fantastic passwords and where to find them - at NoRuKo
philnash
52
3.9k
Leo the Paperboy
mayatellez
10
2.3k
Getting science done with accelerated Python computing platforms
jacobtomlinson
2
500
For a Future-Friendly Web
brad_frost
183
10k
Why Our Code Smells
bkeepers
PRO
340
58k
Easily Structure & Communicate Ideas using Wireframe
afnizarnur
194
17k
Chasing Engaging Ingredients in Design
codingconduct
0
340
Information Architects: The Missing Link in Design Systems
soysaucechin
1
1.2k
The innovator’s Mindset - Leading Through an Era of Exponential Change - McGill University 2025
jdejongh
PRO
1
350
Transcript
how vector maps work Vladimir Agafonkin
None
April 2008
a typical GIS talk
rain.in.ua
so I’m doing maps now, how hard could this be?
None
maps huh? •a bunch of square pictures •drag them with
a mouse •put some icons on top
PFF
Let’s build a mapping library from scratch!
no way you could do that
None
creating a web map in 2008
None
You’re wasting time
None
building from scratch; didn’t tell anyone
None
Web Maps Lite
None
None
born as a protest against bloat, clutter and complexity
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
the number one mapping library in the world* *because the
guy didn’t know shit about maps
•extremely lightweight and simple •extremely easy to get started •huge
community, tons of plugins •stable as a mountain •works everywhere (i.e. legacy browsers)
raster tiles era
OpenLayers
• maps as background • mostly static • top-down, north-oriented
• a rigid set of zoom levels • some simple vectors/icons on top • conceptually the same as 14 years ago Web maps status quo:
None
None
Mapbox vision for maps: living, breathing, fluid, rich, powerful experiences
that make you feel connected to the world Games did it for decades; why not maps?
Evolution of The Elder Scrolls 2002 2006 2011
Evolution of web maps 2002 2006 2011
None
Digital maps before: exclusively web tech Digital maps now: native
mobile apps + web
Browsers before: display a bunch of text and images Browsers
now: anything is possible
vector maps raster maps
let’s build a vector maps platform from scratch!
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
vector maps era
maps.me
why vector maps?
smooth zoom and rotation
None
None
3D features
None
None
None
full control over data presentation in real time
None
None
any object on the map can be interactive
None
None
data-driven styling
None
None
real-time data analysis
None
mourner.github.io/ road-orientation-map
performance: rendering millions of features
None
None
visual map editor
mapbox.com/studio
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
less bandwidth
simulation vs cartography?
None
None
github.com/mapbox/ mapbox-gl-js (JS) github.com/mapbox/ mapbox-gl-native (C++14) iOS, Android, QT, Node,
OSX, Linux, Windows
None
None
why isn’t WebGL everywhere yet?
Let’s build something with OpenGL!
OpenGL — 3D API?
OpenGL is a low-level 2D API
None
OpenGL: a technology for drawing triangles really fast
None
drawing lines
None
anti-aliasing
6 triangles
vertex attributes
2 triangles
line joins & line caps
None
drawing polygons
drawing polygons
github.com/mapbox/earcut (JS) github.com/mapbox/earcut.hpp (C++)
drawing text
font textures
unicode-intervals /Arial Regular/0-255.pbf /Arial Regular/256-511.pbf /Arial Regular/512-767.pbf
None
SDF signed distance fields
None
None
None
github.com/mapbox/potpack
mapbox/tiny-sdf
mapbox/ mapbox-gl-rtl-text icu4c C + Emscripten = JavaScript coming soon:
WebAssembly
placing labels
None
mourner/rbush mourner/rbush-knn mourner/kdbush mourner/flatbush mourner/geokdbush mourner/geoflatbush
loading and processing data
mapbox/pbf (JS) mapbox/protozero (C++)
6-7 times faster than JSON.parse Protocol Buffers: 3-4 times smaller
than JSON (gzip)
github.com/mapbox/ vector-tile-spec
mapbox/geojson-vt (JS) mapbox/geojson-vt-cpp (C++)
mapbox/supercluster (JS) mapbox/supercluster-hpp (C++)
mapbox/polylabel (JS, C++)
main thread (UI) processing loading data web workers processing loading
data processing loading data
continuous testing
1082 render tests
mapbox/pixelmatch (JS) mapbox/pixelmatch-cpp (C++)
AppVeyor
hey, what’s there on the server side?
None
the essence of software engineering is mitigation of complexity
vastly bigger scope, same goal: let people build amazing maps
Díky moc! agafonkin.com