Say hi to ‘Geocomputation with Python’
Geocomputation with Python, also known as geocompy, is an open-source book on geographic data analysis with Python.1 It is written by Michael Dorman, Anita Graser, Robin Lovelace, and me with contributions from others. You can find it online at py.geocompx.org.
We started working on this project at the beginning of 2022, and since then, we have been making steady progress. The book is currently in the late stages of development, and we hope to release the first edition in 2024.2 This blog post briefly introduces the project, its goals, and its current status. It also serves as an invitation for contributions and feedback.
geocompy
The geocompy book is motivated by the need for an introductory yet rigorous and up-to-date resource on geographic data with (arguably) the most popular programming language in the world. It presents the foundations of geographic data analysis in Python, with an equal focus on vector and raster data.
Examples of figures from the book.
It starts by explaining the basic concepts of geographic data analysis, such as vector and raster data models (using GeoPandas and Rasterio), coordinate reference systems, and spatial units. Next, it shows how to perform various attribute and spatial operations on geographic data, such as data subsetting, joins, aggregations, and raster algebra. The book also covers geometric operations, such as buffering, clipping, and intersecting. The next part of the book focuses on interactions between vector and raster data: extraction, rasterization, and raster to vector conversion. Then, the book deeply dives into the coordinate reference systems, including their definition and projections. The next chapter is about reading and writing geographic data, including getting data from the web, geocoding, and working with the most popular formats, such as GeoPackage and GeoTIFF. The last chapter covers the basics of data visualization, including static and interactive maps.
Examples of figures from the book.
If you’re just starting out with Python for working with geographic data or want to organize your knowledge, we hope you will find this book an excellent place to start.
What are we still working on?
The core structure and content of the book are already in place. However, there are still a few things to do before releasing the first edition. This includes adding acknowledgments, an introduction, and a conclusion, and preparing the book for publication. We are also still discussing if we should add exercises to the book.
Feedback and contributions
We developed the book in the open to make it accessible to everyone. We also hope that it will encourage contributions from the community, for example by:
- Improving the text, e.g., clarifying unclear sentences, fixing typos
- Changing the code, e.g., to do things in a more efficient or elegant way
- Suggesting new content
If you want to contribute, please open an issue or a pull request on GitHub. Now, when the book is in the late stages of development, it is the perfect time to provide feedback as it can still be incorporated into the soon-to-be-published book.
It would also be great if you could share the message about the book with your friends and colleagues and communicate about it online. You can also join our Discord server to discuss the project.
Thank you!
Footnotes
The book is also a sibling project of Geocomputation with R (geocompr), a book on geographic data analysis, visualization, and modeling using the R programming language. The geocompy follows the style and structure of the first part of geocompr.↩︎
As a physical book with CRC Press.↩︎
Reuse
Citation
@online{nowosad2023,
author = {Nowosad, Jakub},
title = {Say Hi to “{Geocomputation} with {Python}”},
date = {2023-12-12},
url = {https://geocompx.org/post/2023/geocompy-bp1/},
langid = {en}
}