ArcGIS is a platform for making, using, and sharing maps from any device, anywhere, and at any time. This is how it's described on the ArcGIS website, and that's what it is, in a sentence.
Unlike QGIS, which we used in the previous chapters, ArcGIS is commercial software, and is a very deep and complex platform used by the GIS professionals.
Note
There is a 60-day free trial if you are interested in exploring ArcGIS; it is available at http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcgis-for-desktop/free-trial.
The platform is composed of several different applications, including ArcGIS Desktop in three different variations. It includes several applications, such as ArcMap, ArchToolbox, and others; it also includes ArcReader to view and query maps and ArcGIS Server to create and manage GIS web services, applications, and data.
Due to the complexity of the applications and server products, we are not going to dive deep into them since it would require a...