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KB10868 - DK versus Editor for custom GIS development.

Advantages and disadvantages of the TatukGIS Editor versus the TatukGIS Developer Kernel (DK) for custom GIS development.

Advantages of the TatukGIS Developer Kernel (component).

  1. Royalty-free application deployment to computers and servers. (The Editor involves per user or run-time licensing - with volume price discounts.)
  2. More powerful for high level custom feature development or embedding GIS features into another software application. For example, a new class can be added to the DK API, which is not possible in the Editor.
  3. More efficient code (than is possible with Editor scripting), potentially resulting in better performance with complex feature implementations.
  4. Ability to develop in a language of choice (C#, VB, VB.NET, Delphi, C++, Java) using a preferred technology (VCL, FMX, .NET, Java Swing + NetBeans or Eclipse, ActiveX).
  5. Ability to develop custom applications for multiple operating systems (Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, etc.). (The Editor is a Windows application.)
  6. Appropriate also for developing the server side of client-server applications.
  7. Possibility for source code access. (The Editor source code is not available.)

Advantages of the TatukGIS Editor (with scripting):

  1. Lower up-front license fee to get started.
  2. Self-contained development environment, so no need for 3rd party development suites (like Microsoft Visual Studio, Delphi, etc.).
  3. Fully customizable user interface and powerful (Basic and Pascal) scripting IDE exposes within the Editor the powerful DK object-oriented API for developing custom features or additional functionality as plug-ins that are easily deployed to other users.
  4. Lower development costs and shorter development time because:
    • starting point of development is the already existing TatukGIS Editor, a well seasoned, general-purpose GIS desktop application developed from the DK and reflecting its features.
    • development work can be performed by a less skilled developer or even GIS power user.
  5. Lower future software maintenance costs because more of the maintenance is performed by TatukGIS.
  6. An Editor based custom application may include the built-in scripting environment exposing the DK API. (The DK licensing forbids use of the DK to develop an application that exposes the DK API, such as via scripting.)
  7. Built-in support for advanced spatial databases (PostGIS, MSSQL Server Spatial, Oracle Spatial & Oracle GeoRaster, ESRI ArcSDE & ArcSDE Raster, PostGIS, IBM DB2 Spatial Extender, etc.) at no additional cost. (Spatial database extensions for the DK cost extra.)
  8. Perfect for ad-hoc and in-house applications and for prototyping applications later developed to completion using the Developer Kernel.
  9. Though licensing is user based, substantial volume discounts make large deployments affordable.
Created: August 19, 2011, Modified: March 05, 2019