Point-in-polygon lookups with vector tiles: quick, effective, and no server needed!
summary
Demonstrates point-in-polygon lookups done entirely in JavaScript by converting vector tiles to GeoJSON with vt2geojson, testing features with turf booleanPointInPolygon, and wrapping it into packages like query-mbtiles and query-remote-tiles. Builds a Find My School service for Victorian government and a Glitch demo; a tiny AWS instance sustains about 1,200 requests/sec. Works fast because tile XYZ math narrows polygons to a few per tile, but it’s not suitable when the full stitched geometry or meter‑accurate borders are required.
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chapters (6)
- 0:00Introduction and who am I
- 3:38What is point-in-polygon lookup
- 7:55Local lookups with vector tiles
- 11:47Browser-based lookups without server
- 15:22Using any vector tiles online
- 18:24Q&A and key considerations
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