PostGIS in Action

by Regina Obe, Leo Hsu, Paul Ramsey (Foreword)

Whether you're canvassing a congressional district, managing a sales region, mapping city bus schedules, or analyzing local cancer rates, thinking spatially opens up limitless possibilities for database users. PostGIS, a freely available open-source spatial database extender, can help you answer questions that you could not answer using a mere relational database. Its feature set equals or surpasses proprietary alternatives, allowing you to create location-aware queries and features with just a few lines of SQL code.

PostGIS in Action is the first book devoted entirely to PostGIS. It will help both new and experienced users write spatial queries to solve real-world problems. For those with experience in more traditional relational databases, this book provides a background in vector-based GIS so you can quickly move to analyzing, viewing, and mapping data. Advanced users will learn how to optimize queries for maximum speed, simplify geometries for greater efficiency, and create custom functions suited specifically to their applications. It also discusses the new features available in PostgreSQL 8.4 and provides tutorials on using additional open source GIS tools in conjunction with PostGIS.

Genres: Programming

492 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2011

Reviews

[Michal Olah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an awesome treasure trove of information not just on working with geospatial data, but also on SQL. Even seasoned SQL enthusiasts will find interesting approaches to problems. The book also covers loading data into the database, cleaning it up and presenting it. All that in addition to providing a LOT of examples on how to query the data to have something to present. You will learn a lot about geospatial data - spatial reference systems, geometry, geography, rasters and topologies just to name a few. The breadth of topics covered will allow the reader to work with most geospatial data out there.

If there is anything to criticize its the tedium of the writing at times and the exhausting level of detail the examples go to. Be prepared to brush up on your SQL, because this book really leans on even the most esoteric aspects of the language. Fortunately, there is a nice refresher in one of the appendices.

[Vinay Mittal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explains the postgis functions in details, that's the beauty of it

[Max Nova · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought a pre-release draft version of this book through the publisher's "early access" program. It is certainly rough around the edges, but my bigger complaint is with the presentation of the content. There's certainly a lot in this book - but I'm a university computer science major and I had trouble understanding what was going on. Granted, I'm no SQL expert, but this is certainly no "intro" book although it is marketed like it is. I feel like I've been hit with a firehose of information and that some of it stuck, but reading this book was pretty disappointing