Internet and Web Technologies - Term Paper Example

Name: University: Course: Tutor: Date: Internet & Web Technologies Introduction This assignment shall evaluate on modern web applications of online maps and compare their application and usability. Computerization and digitalization of maps have made it much easy for people to navigate through maps and be able to trace areas or locations which they need with ease (Condit, 2005). Digitized maps are accessible over the internet have been of great assistant to travelers or people who are tracing businesses or institutions. For the purpose of this assignment it will evaluate three online map websites for Yahoo Maps UK and Ireland, MSN Maps and Google Maps UK. Each of this website provides almost the same result of the map or the place which is being searched. However each has distinct features and tools which makes it unique in its application and use. Hence, some are better than others depending on its applicability which is mainly brought by different designs and technology which supports it. MSN Maps MSN Maps are supported and developed by Microsoft Inc. This is map program which is being incorporated in the MSN website for the purpose of being used by the public to trace places, institutions and be guided in the streets. Herein below it’s the screen shot of the website with a display of Brunel University, UK. Main End User Features The website has the features of enabling the user to save the map as a picture in the computer. This enables the user to store it in their computer as a file therefore. Some one would obtain such a map save it as a photo and use it in a report or documents which they would be working on provided they will quite its source. It has direction features which are an important tool for navigation as a user would be able to be directed from one place to another. By use of directions features the user keys in the two places where they are as point A and where they intend to know the direction to as Point B. Then instructs the system to generate a route, the system will eventfully display the route. The route will depend on the selection of the user. The route options would either be Quickest, Shortest or waking while the measurement would either be calculated in either Kilometer or Miles. The map has features of how the user wants to view the map or the place they are searching for. They would either use two dimensional views (2D) or three dimensional (3D) views. This would depend on the details which the user wants to see in the map. Two dimensional views enable the user to see the length and width while for 3D one has an all round. The system supports different views of the same map with diversified components such as road network. Depending on the use of the system the website would either be configured to display detailed road network which comes along with the name of the roads. Road network on the maps is essential especially for travelers. Aerial view enables the user to view the map from above the ground. This view is mainly is used to indentify a place when viewing the map from above. If there are features notable to the user they would scroll t view such features/areas with an aim of viewing the features which surround the target area. The aerial view is supported by satellite photos of the real surface how it is on the earth surface. Its aerial view is a combination of the vectors and photos which make the maps more feasible with detailed information of the area under coverage. The satellite images have a view of vegetation and structures on the earth surface which is detailed to provide all the necessary information which a user would need in a map. The map has features of transit, the user clicks on the transit icon at the control panel of the map and the site generates the transit route to the location which had been searched the transit is both by rail and road. This provides the user with the transit route which they would use to access the place being searched in this case being Brunel University. Therefore, one would be able to follow the transit route displayed and arrive at the place which they had searched with ease. The map has the feature of generating direction of two places which the user needs, the user specifies on the first point (A) being where they are to travel from followed by the place where they want to go point (B). The direction feature is highly customizable as the user would select on whether they want the distance to be either in miles or Kilometer. There three options of route which the user would use which could either be the quickest or shortest route or even one is to walk to there it has walking route for short distances especially in a city. Main Back end Technology MSN uses ASP technology in development of its sites as well as the MSN map. Microsoft owns ASP.net hence it strives to promote its technology by using it as well. It would be ironical for Microsoft to use any other programming language of other companies for its website application while it has its own programming. ASP.net is a successor of Active Server Pages (ASP) technology and it’s used to build dynamic website applications, web services and websites. The program is built on Common Language Runtime (CLR) hence allowing programmer to use it in any .NET language which is supported (Boehm, 2008). MSN uses several other development tools which are used in development of ASP.Net applications. The tools commonly used are Macromedia Dreamweaver which is developed by Adobe systems it has code generation features and supports ASP.NET hence it make development of WebPages and application much easy. It also uses Macromedia HomeSite which is also developed by Adobe systems which enables the developers to develop flash applications in the maps to make them dynamic. Google Maps Google maps are owned by Google Inc and it is used on either the website or via downloadable software which is used to connect to the internet. It is also the most developed maps and commonly used due to its advanced features especially on the downloaded software. However, for the purpose of this assignment is meant to compare the online maps hosted on the websites. Main End User Features The map has the features which enable users to visualize the map, satellite imagery, Terrains, traffic, photos and video clips. A combination of all this features makes it a much better map than its competitors in the market. According to Arrington , (2009) the map has names of cities, boundaries of regions such as countries or states, road and rail way network, rivers, water bodies and shadings depending on vegetations. Its contents are made up of drawings. The maps are detailed and unlike MSN map it has many cities and town being shown where they are which makes it much easier for the user to locate the towns and cities which surround the regions which they are studying. Satellite feature provides the satellite images of the earth surface this images are much details than the maps. However, they do not have boundaries but they have a clear view of vegetation and structures on the earth surface exactly the way they are. Such images provide a real life experience on how the earth surface looks like at the point which the user needs to sees. The satellite images have different uses such as forestry, agriculture, education and biodiversity conservations. The satellite features has the option of displaying/viewing the labels such as town/cities, boundaries and road and railway network. Such features are good because users who just want to view the photo images of the earth surface with or without the labels would easily select the option. Street view is the feature which provides most details of features on the earth surface as it enable the user to drag the tool to the position on the map which the customer needs to have a street view. The street view is only used while on the reads which street footage has been stored in the system (Michael, 2008). The street view is detailed and the user would be able to provide much information especially to a visitor who has never gone to that place. By having a street view of the place one would be able to follow the directions provided and the street view to move around and minimize chances of getting lost as one would compare the visual street views seen in street views. When a user is using street view they are able to move along the streets and have capabilities of moving ahead or backward along the street/road and would as well view all the items which are in place. Good map has Terrain features, these features are used to display how the earth surface is whether it is flat or hilly. The terrain are being viewed with an aerial view which shows how the varies are and mountainous places on the earth surface. With such photos one is able to know what kind of geographical environment they are to get in the region under review. The terrains map has few labels as compared to the map or satellite and makes one to be able to know the real name of the region being viewed. Places which are hilly are well displaced and flat regions as well as seen which provide the customer within all the information they need to make the decisions based on the map terrains. Main Back end Technology Google has been the leading online search engine and their Google map which is commonly known as Google earth has been a successful project. The company uses a combination of different programming languages in development of its systems to ensure they are successful. Google uses Python as the back end technology and SQL server and Mysql as the database program for storage of the application data. While in between the backend and front end application they use a mixture of C, C++ and python for security, reliability and enhancement of speeds of the applications. Because, maps and the satellite photos together with individual photos and video clips which people upload they occupy high storage facilities. Therefore, there is need to have high storage facilities and technology which would be able to support all the data and have it easily accessed. Python is able to support multiple programming paradigms which enable development of dynamic websites because it is able to support imperative, functional and object oriented dynamic type of system and automatic memory management. However, python is being used for scripting purposes together with java program depending on the application which they support. Yahoo Map Yahoo Map is owned by Yahoo Inc. and is used to locate places and serves people with information which they need to know about maps for the different stakeholders who need such information such as students, geographers or any other party which would be interested with the maps (Mason, Et al. 2001). Main End User Features The map is mounted on its website and is accessed with internet connection and has unique features but most of them are more less the same with goggle earth and MSN Maps. The map has the feature of hybrid this is a combination of usual map and satellite images this provides a clear view of demographics on the earth surface and the labels of road, railway lines and other details of prominent features which are characterize the region under review. When one is using the satellite feature its navigation have been made easy to access by use of a viewer which a user drags in a small map to the location which they need to be magnified. The tool makes it much easy for users to trace what they need and navigate to the region with ease. The feature of getting directions is much improved than for MSN the feature would not only provide direction from point A to B, (A) being the place one is to travel from and (B) being the desired destination but they would be able to get a reverse direction as well from B to A and the most appropriate round-trip between the two places. It also have language convertor tool hence it would be able to support Italiano, Espanol, English, François and Deutsch. With such features it is not limited for use by only those who understand English but also by people from the different languages which it is able to support therefore, it has high chances of being accessed online by people of different races. Main Back end Technology Yahoo uses MySQL and SQL Server for storage of its database for the maps which run in to tetra bytes. While, for the programming languages it uses a combination of Python, Perl and C/C++ for its application. The company uses open source programs because it is not owned by any company hence there isn’t any company which would claim ownership or even sabotage operations of the company. Its security is also tight as the company developing the system is the only one which has the security measures which they put in place to prevent sourcing of information. Rating In rating the three maps using rating of 1-10 I would rate Google maps as 9/10, MSN maps 7/10 and Yahoo Maps 5/10. The rating is mainly based on end user application depending on the information available, its accessibility and usability. Justification of the rating Google Map has more features than MSN and Yahoo maps hence being more informing to any one who is seeking information of the maps. Its satellite photos are really clear and detailed while its street view has the real feeling that one is on the street due to its dynamics. MSN has additional features than Yahoo Maps one would be able to use 3 Dimensional views to have a clear view by having all around view of the places they are viewing. However, I have rated yahoo as the least because its maps are not detailed they only have the major towns and city but less known streets, roads towns and features are less in the map and it needs to improve it Suggestions for improvement Most of the Yahoo satellite imagery is less than two years old but in regions which are less populated it has older imagery. With the high level of development which is taking place there is need to have recent information in the maps for them to be relevant and informative to those who would be searching it. Development of world maps with most of the features which users would need to view is much challenging because the world is big and it’s less likely to be able to digitize all it has but this would be improved by involving users as Google had done. Therefore, I would suggest MSN and yahoo to develop an interface which users would be able to load on the website such as photo’s, video clips and other details which they seem appropriate to enrich the map. This will ensure that the maps will always be updated with materials. Street view is a brilliant idea of Google which I would as well recommend Yahoo and MSN website to include as well by doing so they will be able to guide people along the streets and major roads which are essential and more informing because it has visual ability, unlike use of maps only. Accessibility review summary Accessibility of information from the three maps differs depending on how such information is availed through the maps available on the net. Accessibility of information in the three map is informative and provides the information of Brunel University which we were searching using the three maps. Tracing Route to Sample Hosts The host which was being used in this assignment is Brunel University and when one is using the maps one would be able to trace the host and even be able to generate the route of accessing it. Either by road, walking short distances or by train for long distance travelers, such features of tracing the route is essential because it directs the person who is tracing the university. References Arrington, M. (2009). Google Redefines GPS Navigation Landscape: Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0. Retrieved on February 11, 2009 from http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/28/google-redefines-car-gps-navigation-google-maps-navigation-android/ Boehm, A. (2008). Murachs ASP.NET 3.5 Web Programming with VB 2008, Mike Murach and Associates Condit, D. (2005). Means to Distribute Maps and Associated Media via Web and CD. Workshop Proceedings: Geological Survey pp. 1428 Mason, D. Corr, D and Cross, A. (2001). The Use of Digital Map Data in the Segmentation and Classification of Remotely-Sensed Images. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 2, (3). 195 - 215 Michael, A. (2008). The Use of Digital Map Data in the Segmentation and Classification of Remotely-Sensed Images. Retrieved on February 11, 2009 from http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/28/google-redefines-car-gps-navigation-google-maps-navigation-android/ Read More