leaflet

What is leaflet?

Leaflet is a widely used open-source JavaScript library that helps you create mobile-friendly interactive maps. It provides features that allow users to embed maps into web pages, add various types of layers, markers, popups, and handle user interactions with the map.

What are leaflet's main functionalities?

Map Initialization

This code initializes a new map in the 'mapid' HTML element and sets the view to a specific latitude and longitude and a zoom level.

var map = L.map('mapid').setView([51.505, -0.09], 13);

Tile Layer

This code adds a tile layer to the map using OpenStreetMap tiles. It sets the maximum zoom level and adds attribution text.

L.tileLayer('https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png', {
  maxZoom: 19,
  attribution: '© OpenStreetMap contributors'
}).addTo(map);

Markers

This code places a marker on the map at the specified latitude and longitude.

var marker = L.marker([51.5, -0.09]).addTo(map);

Popups

This code binds a popup with some HTML content to the previously created marker and opens it.

marker.bindPopup('<b>Hello world!</b><br>I am a popup.').openPopup();

GeoJSON

This code adds a GeoJSON layer to the map. The 'geojsonData' variable should contain valid GeoJSON.

L.geoJSON(geojsonData).addTo(map);

Other packages similar to leaflet

openlayers

OpenLayers is an open-source JavaScript library for displaying map data in web browsers. It provides a similar range of features to Leaflet, but it is known for being more feature-rich and customizable, which can make it more complex to use.

mapbox-gl

Mapbox GL JS is a JavaScript library that uses WebGL to render interactive maps from vector tiles and Mapbox styles. It is known for its smooth rendering capabilities and is suitable for applications that require more advanced visual effects and functionalities.

google-maps-react

This package is a wrapper around the Google Maps API for use within React applications. It allows for the integration of Google Maps features, but it requires an API key and is not open-source like Leaflet.

README

Leaflet is a modern open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps. It is developed by Vladimir Agafonkin with a team of dedicated contributors. Weighing just about 27 KB of gzipped JS code, it has all the features most developers ever need for online maps.

Leaflet is designed with simplicity, performance and usability in mind. It works efficiently across all major desktop and mobile platforms out of the box, taking advantage of HTML5 and CSS3 on modern browsers while being accessible on older ones too. It can also be extended with many plugins, has a beautiful, easy to use and well-documented API and a simple, readable source code that is a joy to contribute to.

For more information, check out the official website.

We're happy to meet new contributors. If you want to get involved with Leaflet development, check out the contribution guide. Let's make the best open-source library for maps that can possibly exist!