Re: [Geotools-gt2-users] New User of Geotools

[Andrea A. <and...@al...>]

On Wednesday 19 November 2003 23:05, Landon Blake wrote:
>      I am relatively new to java programming. I have been experimenting
> with the JUMP GIS system the past few weeks. I am interested in adding
> features to this platform and developing other GIS applications with Java.
> I looked over the Geotools Developer's Guide, but I am not sure if this is
> a good place to get started. Is geotools too complex for a new Java
> Programmer, or is it something a new user can understand and utilize?

I'll try to answer to your questions:
* JUMP is definitely more "finished". On the other side, Geotools has more
  potential (speed, features, coordinate system support) but still misses the 
  GUI components you may be looking for. So for the moment its' good for 
  server side applications.
* JUMP is GPL, Geotools2 is LGPL. Which is the right license for you, 
  I don't know, but if you want to develop a commercial application on top
  of JUMP you'll have to enter into commercial agreements with VividSolutions
* The developer's guide if for... developers, which means, people creating gt2.
   We still have no much documentation for the end user
* "new Java programmer" is quite a relative statement. When I joined the geotools
  project as a developer I was using Java for 6 months only, but I already had
  a degree in computer science and three years of experience programming
  in VB and C and Linux system administration. It has been painful but allowed
  me to learn a lot.

So, basically, if you're looking for something to use out of the box for server
side applications, gt2 _may_ be for you, if you're looking for a client side
library, it may be quite painful, if you want to improve your Java and GIS knowledge
you can try to join our development effort. Just start looking around, make question,
prepare patches, little modules, and so on -> and for this you'll need the above
developers guide. 

Things may change in a couple of months, but it really depends on how much
time is dedicated to the GUI side of things, and at the moment I'm the only
one working on these issues.

Best regards
Andrea Aime