CesiumJS: An Open Source Javascript Library for 3D Mapping
Yesterday, we published an article called "GeoFS: An aerial simulation game from the browser using Cesium", in which we mention for the first time cesium, and more specifically to CesiumJS, when mentioning that it was used by GeoFS, for being an open source technology used to render the global aerial landscape that players see.
So today, we will dig a little deeper, on this Javascript library de open source used for the 3D mapping.
Citing the Cesium official website about CesiumJS, it is:
"An open source JavaScript library for creating world-class 3D maps and globes with the best possible performance, accuracy, visual quality, and ease of use. Developers in all industries, from aerospace to smart cities and drones, use CesiumJS to create interactive web applications to share dynamic geospatial data.".
Note: It is worth clarifying that, cesium is a private and commercial organization, while CesiumJS it is open technology created and used.
Note: GeoFS is a free online flight simulator game, it makes use of Cesium's free and open technology, called CesiumJS, which is an open source Javascript library for creating 3D maps and globes.
CesiumJS: Open Source Javascript Library
What is CesiumJS?
According to CesiumJS official site on GitHub, CesiumJS is
"A JavaScript library used to create 3D globes and 2D maps in a web browser without the need for a plugin. In addition, it uses WebGL to generate graphics accelerated by hardware, and it is multiplatform, cross-browser, and very useful for visualizing dynamic data.".
In addition, being built under open standards, CesiumJS owns and offers a robust interoperability, which allows it to benefit many applications, which in turn benefit millions of users. It is important to note that, CesiumJS is released under the Apache 2.0 license, which makes it free for commercial and non-commercial use.
Features
Its developers claim that:
"CesiumJS is built with care; Code is publicly peer-reviewed, unit tested with over 90% code coverage, and statically analyzed, documented, and developed by an experienced team".
What has been a beneficial process that allowed to achieve, that CesiumJS have the possibility of offering important and valuable characteristics or functionalities, in the products in which it is used, such as:
- The design of 3D Panels to transmit, design and interact with heterogeneous 3D data, including photogrammetry models, 3D buildings, exterior and interior CAD and BIM, and point clouds.
- The ability to create a wide range of geometries, including polylines, polygons, billboards, labels, extrusions, and runners.
- The ability to create a wide range of visual effects such as: Shadows, including own shadows and soft shadows based on the position of the sun; Atmosphere, fog, sun, lighting from the sun, moon, stars and water; and particle system effects such as smoke, fire, and sparks.
- The ability to draw image layers using the WMS, TMS, OpenStreetMaps, Bing and Esri standards.
- Interaction with vector formats, which are industry standard in the area, such as KML, GeoJSON and TopoJSON.
These and many other features make this Open source JavaScript library, an open tool ideal for stream 3D content, such as 3D terrain, images and shapes from various content sources.
Conclusion
We hope this "useful little post" this useful and handy open source Javascript library called «GeoFS», used for 3D mapping, that is, to create 3D globes and 2D maps in a web browser without plugins; is of great interest and utility, for the entire «Comunidad de Software Libre y Código Abierto» and of great contribution to the diffusion of the wonderful, gigantic and growing ecosystem of applications of «GNU/Linux».
And for more information, always do not hesitate to visit any Online library as OpenLibra y jedit to read books (PDFs) on this topic or others knowledge areas. For now, if you liked this «publicación», don't stop sharing it with others, in your Favorite websites, channels, groups, or communities of social networks, preferably free and open as Mastodon, or secure and private like Telegram.