Creating a whole WebGIS application is a time-consuming task, which can be eased with toolkits, like GeoExt or Heron MC. However, using such a toolkit, has some disadvantages. For example, you can't keep step with the evolution of the mapping libraries, as the toolkits can't develop so rapidly. If you want to use the most recent features, and don't want to wait for the developers of your favourite toolkit to come up with a new version, you have to build your application just on the library.
From another point of view, learning how a web mapping library works can be rewarding. If you build your WebGIS application, you can easily come across a situation, where you have to customize it in a way, that hasn't been implemented in your toolkit. At this point, you will need to learn how to use the native library anyway (and consider yourself lucky, if you don't work with a deadline). To avoid such a case, it is considerable to get acquainted with the library in time and use toolkits later. In the next few posts, I will demonstrate how to build a basic WebGIS application with only HTML, JavaScript, and OpenLayers 2. I will try to summarize the content of the last few posts, and show how to handle browser events with the library.
From another point of view, learning how a web mapping library works can be rewarding. If you build your WebGIS application, you can easily come across a situation, where you have to customize it in a way, that hasn't been implemented in your toolkit. At this point, you will need to learn how to use the native library anyway (and consider yourself lucky, if you don't work with a deadline). To avoid such a case, it is considerable to get acquainted with the library in time and use toolkits later. In the next few posts, I will demonstrate how to build a basic WebGIS application with only HTML, JavaScript, and OpenLayers 2. I will try to summarize the content of the last few posts, and show how to handle browser events with the library.
