PostGIS in Action

PostGIS is an open source software program that adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL object-relational database. PostGIS follows the Simple Features for SQL specification from the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). This is the first book with an in-depth and comprehensive approach to the subject. Although PG has a complete on-line documentation, and a growing community, it is useful to have all this stuff packed for ready use. Being an interdisciplinar matter , mastering it requires ,at least, an elementary knowledge of a computer language - SQL - plus fundamentals of cartography and geodesics - projections, datums geographical coordinate systems - and also the basics of geographical analysis - geometrical operations and computations between polygons, lines and points. So, it is really hard stuff, and i think the authors suceeded to present all this material in a organized and readable way. I have a background on traditional GIS packages - like ArcView and ArcMap, and i would recommend this book for anyone triyng - as i am - to learn new approaches on geodatabase management and Geographical Analysis.Being a new an interdisciplinary subject,there is a considerable learning curve, but the authors provide very basic examples to starters, and an excellent appendix full of on-line resources.

I love the PostGIS/PostgreSQL spatial database. Before I bought the PostGIS in Action Book from Amazon, I got a link and downloaded a draft of the PostGIS in Action. As I ready the pdf file, I discovered that it had all I needed to kick-start building a GeoStack of PostGIS/PostgreSQL, GeoServer, Apache/Tomcat, QGIS, Openjump and uDIG on Debian GNU/Linux squeeze. I gained alot of skills and knowledge on working with Geography and Geometry. Additionally, since we are establishing a GIS Laboratory at the work place, the Book will provide the much needed skills in building a spatial database, Application Server, Desktop GIS and Cartographic map renderer, Map tile server and Web map component using the following software: PostGIS/PostgreSQL, GeoServer, Apache/Tomcat, uDIG, Openjump, QGIS, GRASS GIS and Openlayers.

It's a solid book, I downloaded the PDF version they offer for free when you buy this and mainly use that. I've used a bit of PostGIS at my job and with college projects and it's been useful reference.

I just started a new project using PostGIS, and this book has been invaluable to that experience. So whether you're just getting started or you're already an expert in few GIS systems, this book has it all. The coverage of this book is very comprehensive, the examples are clear and tangible (and cover real world problems, which I thought was amazing), and the book is written well enough that even the novice database developer can learn from this book.

Everything I expected.

PostGIS in Action is a very comprehensive introduction to PostGIS for developers of all levels of experience. The book is split into three parts, with the first part containing an excellent overview of PostGIS, explaining the whys and hows of spatial data and geometries. The second part then takes the developer through the details of using PostGIS, including some good coverage of performance pitfalls and optimisation techniques. Finally, the third part of the book shows how to integrate PostGIS with other tools. Part 1 of PostGIS starts off nice and slow, taking the reader through the basics of what a spatial database is, what geometry data types are and how they are used in PostGIS. As a traditional SQL developer, I found this introduction to be very easy to follow. The first part is rounded out by a useful summary of the tools available to load data from other, third-party systems into PostGIS and various export options which are available. Part 2 of the book is where you learn how to put PostGIS to work. Techniques discussed include proximity analysis, geocoding addresses, manipulating polygons and lines, and scaling and rotating geometries. There is also a very good chapter on performance tuning, which covers how the PostGIS query planner works, giving very useful information on how to write efficient queries and how to tune your database and selection of appropriate indexes and keys for your data. A discussion on common SQL patterns and their performance implications is included here and the advice provided is very welcome. Part 3 covers most of the tools commonly used to build PostGIS applications. From add-ons used to help with your spatial queries, through using PostGIS with popular, server-side web-mapping tools (including Google Maps and Bing Maps) on to open-source desktop tools supporting PostGIS, this section gives the reader a thorough grasp of just what tools are available and how they can be used. Rounding out the book are a nice set of appendices which point you to various PostGIS resources online, explain how to install PostGIS on your server and a SQL primer to help you start writing queries. Overall this is a very well written, easy to follow book that works equally as well for beginners to PostGIS as it does for advanced PostGIS developers. Common mistakes are pointed out throughout the text and the examples provided are clear and to the point. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone interested in using PostGIS in their projects, or even those who just want to understand what a spatial database is all about.

Fine.

This is an excellent book. PostGIS deals with evaluating the "where" or location of objects. Whether you are working with tracking assets, friends, building locations shapes or sizes, or any objects that have geospatial attributes, like location size shape, etc, then PostGIS is an awesome tool for doing this. PostGIS in Action is an excellent book for learning how to master this database. I have been using PostGIS for 5+yrs and found lots of tips and tricks in this book that I wish I had known about before. At the same time, this book is very well written as an introduction into geospatial databases and PostGIS. It walks the reader through the concepts and demonstrates them with easy to understand examples. I did not find myself bored with the writing even in areas that I was already well versed. I can strongly recommend this book as great addition to anyone's personal library.

Un libro muy completo sobre PostGIS, con todo bien documentado y con muy buen acabado. Con unas explicaciones muy claras y detalladas.

This is the book to get if you want to know all about PostGIS. It is a very readable book and packed with information.