In this chapter, we will start a new application and use it to produce nice maps from vector data.
In order to produce these maps, we will use Mapnik, one of the world's most used mapping packages. The objective is to understand how it works and adapt it to make an easy-to-use mapping application.
In the previous chapters, we produced some very functional classes that abstract geographic data; we will make this app capable of consuming this type of data.
We will cover the following topics:
Getting to know Mapnik and see how it works
Seeing the differences between pure Python and XML when defining a map
Experimenting with different styles
Using Python objects as a source of data for Mapnik
Abstracting Mapnik into a high-level application