Easy map on Java

Sometimes you don’t know where to start when you enter the world of GIS programming. Too many libraries, IDEs, but the truth is, everyone assumes you already have a base and everything become chaos. Something is easy as how to develop a map on Java has scarce documentation.

If you have absolutely no idea of GIS, I would recommend you start by the Free book of Free GIS by Victor Olaya.

For beginners I would recommend that you take a look at a fairly new project aimed at extending Swing (the default graphics java library) with geographical widgets. In this way, add a map to a Java desktop application would be a task as simple as adding a button or text field.

Of course, GIS applications have some complexity, a simple display like this is not enough. But it is a good starting point to get familiar with what a map is and what can a developer do.

We start with a Java project and add SwingX-WS to its dependencies. Then, the following code would show a window with a simple map:

es.emergya.gis.examples package;

import java.awt.BorderLayout;

public class  SwingWS {

  public static void main (String [] args) {
    Form = new JFrame JFrame ("Map");

    JXMapKit JXMapKit jXMapKit1 = new ();
    jXMapKit1.setDefaultProvider (org.jdesktop.swingx.JXMapKit.DefaultProviders.OpenStreetMaps);
    jXMapKit1.setDataProviderCreditShown (true);
    jXMapKit1.setName ("jXMapKit1") / / NOI18N
    jXMapKit1.setAddressLocation(new GeoPosition(41.881944, 39.627778));

    form.getContentPane().add(jXMapKit1, BorderLayout.CENTER);

    form.pack();
    form.setVisible(true);
  }
}

The tiles of the maps drawn from OpenStreetMap , but is fully configurable for any WMS server.

So now you have your map on java.