Instructor: Dan Swick, dan@mapbox.com
TA: Megan Danielson, megan.danielson@mapbox.com
Office Hours: By appointment only
Class Meetings: Thursdays, 6:30pm–9:30pm, 01/16 - 03/05
Room/Bldg: Harney G24
Mapbox is the location data platform for mobile and web applications. Mapbox provides the building blocks (APIs and SDKs) to add location features like maps, search, and navigation into any experience you create. Throughout this 8-week course students will be introduced to the basics of web mapping technologies including: web programming, cartographic principles for web and mobile development, GitHub project management, and documentation literacy. In addition to laboratory exercises and assignments, students will develop a class project that employs all of the skills developed throughout this course. No prior programming experience is required, but students should note that the course will teach the basics of selected programming languages.
- Understand the basic technologies used in web programming and how they interact to form a web application.
- Gain proficiency in navigating Mapbox documentation.
- Become familiar with JavaScript libraries - specifically Mapbox GL-JS which uses WebGL to render interactive maps from vector tiles and Mapbox styles.
- Design and create a complete, interactive web-map that employs the cartographic principles covered in this class.
- GitHub Account – for viewing and submitting course assignments.
- Visual Studio Code – for navigating and editing code documents.
- Chrome Developer tools – for debugging websites and network activity.
- Mapbox Account – for designing maps in Mapbox Studio, developing interactive web maps with Mapbox GL JS.
- USFGsAL Slack Group (invitation provided in your welcome email) - for communicating with students and instructors about class assignments, projects, etc.
- PKZip or WINZIP or similar program – to compress multiple files and folders for emailing.
| Class | Topic | Lecture | Homework | Project Due Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | link | link | |
| 2 | History of web-mapping and working with data | link | link | Select project group, submit possible topics |
| 3 | Adding interactivity to your map | link | link | Project data and proposal |
| 4 | Client-side rendering/GL maps | Add link | Add link | |
| 5 | Cartography for the web | Add link | Add link | |
| 6 | Web map development and documentation literacy | Add link | Add link | Data report |
| 7 | Live map updates | Add link | Add link | |
| 8 | Work day | Add link | Add link | Project presentations |
| 9 | Final submissions due |