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by bransonf 2382 days ago
Well, I think it has better (official) WebGL support than leaflet, but most all the developers I know are jumping to Mapbox by default.

EDIT: My favorite open source library right now is maptalks. Basically mapbox sort of functionality and rendering, but totally free.
1 comments
Demiurge 2382 days ago
In what way is mapbox-gl not free? It's developed in the open, and works with all types of layers. I switched to mapbox-gl the moment it came out, because I already was making my own vector tiles as needed for interactive maps.

There is only one issue I encountered in the short few years it's been my go-to choice, which is that there are no plugins to integrate Google Streetmaps or Streetview. There are however, for leaflet as Google Mutant and Leaflet Pegman.

What is the level of maptalks integration with Google layers? How is it better than mapbox-gl?

EDIT: There is an issue with the zooming and baselayer being completely out of sync with the buildings here: https://maptalks.org/gallery/extrude-buildings/index.html

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bransonf 2382 days ago
Maybe I misunderstood, do you only pay for the tiles on mapbox? I’m just accustomed to having to use a restricted api key with mapbox.

If that’s the case I’m totally ditching maptalks for all it’s quirks.

And I don’t know of any libraries for google street view integration, but a dev I work with has done a fantastic job of integrating street view with map box. I’ll try to dig up some of his code

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Demiurge 2382 days ago
For some layers my projects do pay for MapBox tile service, but for other projects I use OSM extracts and self-made vector tiles. Mapbox charges only for the tile services, and there are multiple data sources out there, with which mapbox-gl works. It honestly the smart thing to do, as without such flexibility, I wouldn't be using their services or libraries at all.

> but a dev I work with has done a fantastic job of integrating street view with map box. I’ll try to dig up some of his code

This would be a pretty popular library, I am sure! The issue is that the Google EULA prohibits the use of their data directly, it has to be accessed using Google Maps SDK. So Google Mutant Leaflet plugin has to use the API to download the tiles and then exposes the Google Layer a custom Leaflet Layer, but it works :) On the mapbox issue tracker, they close all issues inquiring for help in implementing such a custom layer, so if your coworker did this, I'm sure it was a non-trivial exercise, kudos to him! :)

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