Contributed by Unknown, source

Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Maps

Ok, I’m probably not the first one to write a post about falsehoods programmers believe about maps, but I still remember reading “Falsehoods programmers believe about names” and “Falsehoods programmers believe about time“, and thinking “there should be a post like that about maps”. So, go ahead, read those two posts to get to know the style of a post like this and then read on here.

1. All coordinates are in “Latitude/Longitude” (Why is this false?)
2. If you know the “Latitude/Longitude” you can be certain of exactly where you are
3. “Spatial is special”
4. The earth is round (Why is this false?)
5. The earth is ellipsoidal (Why is this false?)
6. The GPS-satellites know where I am
7. There is a single, right, map projection
8. Scale numbers works on a screen (Why is this false?)
9. There are no good alternatives to Google Maps
10. Web Mercator works for all purposes
11. The shortest path between two points is a straight line
12. All programmers agree on the ordering of latitude and longitude pairs
13. Given a paper map I can always digitize and georeference it
14. My background map will be better if I cache it, always!
15. GIS software is always expensive
16. The whole world is mapped, thouroughly
17. Looking up a street address and get it’s position is easy
18. Offline maps is as easy as Goole Maps