Create your own sophisticated applications to analyze and display geospatial information using QGIS and PythonAbout This Book
- Make use of the geospatial capabilities of QGIS within your Python programs
- Build complete standalone mapping applications based on QGIS and Python
- Use QGIS as a Python geospatial development environment
Who This Book Is For
If you are an experienced Python developer who wants to create your own geospatial applications with minimum fuss, this is the book for you. While some familiarity with mapping applications would be an advantage, no prior knowledge of geospatial concepts is required. Even if you've never used QGIS before, this book will quickly get you up to speed.
What You Will Learn
- Use the Python Console to explore and control QGIS
- Perform geospatial development tasks using the PyQGIS Python library
- Create useful geospatial applications implemented as QGIS Python plugins
- Use QGIS as a standalone geoprocessing library within your Python programs
- Build complex interactive map-based GUIs within your own Python programs
- Understand how Python scripting can be used to customize the QGIS system
- Utilize the true potential of Python and QGIS to create your own complete mapping applications
In Detail
QGIS is one of the premiere open source Geographical Information Systems. While developing Python geospatial applications can be challenging, QGIS simplifies the process by combining the necessary geoprocessing libraries with a sophisticated user interface, all of which can be directly controlled using Python code.
Starting with an introduction to QGIS and how to use the built-in QGIS Python Console, we will teach you how to write Python code that makes use of the geospatial capabilities of QGIS. Building on this, you will ultimately learn how to create your own sophisticated standalone mapping applications built on top of QGIS. You will learn how to use the Python Console as a window into the QGIS programming environment, and then use that environment to create your own Python scripts and plugins to customize QGIS. As your knowledge of the PyQGIS library grows, you will use it to perform a variety of real-world geospatial programming tasks, culminating in the creation of your own complex standalone applications to load, analyze, and display geospatial data.
Erik Westra
Erik Westra has been a professional software developer for over 25 years, and has worked almost exclusively with Python for the past decade. Erik's early interest in graphical user interface design led to the development of one of the most advanced urgent courier dispatch systems used by messenger and courier companies worldwide. In recent years, he has been involved in the design and implementation of systems that match seekers and providers of goods and services across a range of geographical areas. This work has included the creation of real-time geocoders and map-based views of constantly changing data. He is based in New Zealand, and works for companies worldwide. He is the author of Python Geospatial Development, Packt Publishing.
