Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Where am I?
From Chapter 9, we learned how to determine your
user's location from the geolocation capabilities of their Android
device and their browser. We'll take that fundamental starting point to
drive other options.
Where do I want to go?
This is always a nuanced question. Does the
application user have a location in mind, or a type of transport in mind,
or in fact any preference for how to travel between points. The two key
points to remember here are not to prematurely limit the options you
make available in your application, and that when you do limit options,
you do so deliberately and take the user with you. For instance, let
them know that other routes or transit methods are available.
What do online services know about me and my location?
This is a
big area, and covers many generic services. Given a location, and some
kind of desired journey or destination, think about what help is available
to you as a developer, so that you don't need to do all the work yourself.
For example, APIs for general web searching from companies like
Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft can cope with many types of transit
search, including finding transit stops, measuring distances, and
calculating transit times. Use these so you don't have to do this yourself
(unless, of course, you're aiming to compete in that space).
What specialized services know about my location?
The biggest
area to consider, but don't be daunted. Specialized APIs and services
exist for a bewildering array of transit and transport types. A very large
number of public transport agencies around the world make available
scheduling and routing data, which we'll discuss later in this chapter.
However, many also provide a direct API to answer queries for the
next service, nearest service, and so on. Aggregators exist to provide
pan-provider services. An example is Kayak for airline transit searches.
You can take specialized APIs even further, by thinking about (and
asking) why your user wants to make a specific trip. If it's to visit the
cinema, eat at a restaurant, or partake in some other event, services
like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and others provide APIs to search for specific
venues and events. As an application developer, you can create useful
applications that combine all of these to target your users.
What can I usefully conclude with this knowledge?
Take the data
your application gathers about where the user is, where they want to
go, and what they want to do when they get there, and you start to
picture the flow and the features of your application. Focus on using
the building blocks described in the preceding paragraphs, rather than
reinventing them, and you'll build compelling applications that stand
out from the crowd. As an example, imagine if you know that users
want to travel by boat from Manhattan to Brooklyn to visit a particular
restaurant. You could take the experience to the next level, and use
the OpenTable online service to check availability, and note that the
