Since September 2016 there has been features update once or twice to the Bing Maps V8 SDK that involves visualization features enhancement with business logics intact. Much of the Bing Maps V7 SDK has been adapted to the V8 SDK especially the core functions. Among which well see some of them:
- Data binning which is a symmetrical assembling of geometric shapes that groups data is a new module. Each symmetrical figure is called pins and their aggregate value is calculated and stored in bins. Each of the pin may contain a specific color with specific geometrical shapes mostly by squares and hexagons. The data binning produces data bins made from a group of pushpins.
- During August 2016, Bing Maps V8 announced the web control that was released with TypeScript definitions which run “intellisense” that is, error catching function making developers easier write code or creating a function or argument. The advantage is when running the app; the debugger identifies the error and offers to autocomplete compilation so that the errors are highlighted beforehand. TypeScript definitions are available as open source on Github.
- The recent fall update came with updated feature that is more about bug fixes and performance issues. Cardinal splines or connectors that will pass a set of quantified locations. This is called the Spatial Math module.
- Multiple map applications could be displayed on a single page. The Bing Maps V8 helps load multiple map requests, now.
- When using “directions link, an array of locations give you the route path. Searching for data based on a route will fetch you customized route lines.
- The census data of US is available on the Bing Spatial Data Services when using the map application. The data sources are spread across different geographical regions, states and counties consisting of four data sources to distribute the data evenly. The spatial math module offers a set of spatial math operations like calculating distances, performing Boolean computations on shapes etc.
- Autosuggestions in the search box as you enter your desired location and destination.
- Cluster of pushpins on the map will group and ungroup depending upon the zooming.
- The “Bing Maps Dev Center page offers you how you can interact with the code samples and see the change by editing the code yourself. [http://www.bing.com/api/maps/sdkrelease/mapcontrol/isdk#overview]
- You can import and export GeoJSON data which gives you the storage capacity for spatial data and sharing the same.
- Heatmap to picture data points and its density.
The Bing Maps V8 is a release branch versioning where features are tested but only very less likely to have a bug or two. The question arises as to why V8 must be used will be that the amount of coding has been reduced to create applications.
