Project Information:

Organization: Public Lab

Student: Ramakrishna Pattnaik

Potential Mentors: Jeffrey Warren, Igor Wilbert

Contact Information:

Github: https://github.com/rkpattnaik780

Gitlab: https://gitlab.com/rkpattnaik780

Affiliation: College Of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India

Location: Bhubaneswar, India

Project title: Leaflet Environmental Layers

Email: rkpattnaik780@gmail.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rkpattnaik780

Time zone: UTC +5:30

Blog: medium.com/@rkpattnaik780

Gitter handle: rkpattnaik780

I am a pre-final year student of Computer Science and Engineering from College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar.

Project Description:

This library is built using LeafletJS Library and using this we can choose combinations of layers to display on map where each layer provides some environment related data.

Abstract:

Improving the code structure and user interface of leaflet environmental layers along with adding more functionalities and additional layers.

Problems and solutions:

Coding guidance to add new layers

• A quickstart guide for adding new layers can be highly helpful for making new contributors familiar with the codebase and helping them add new layers.
• Tutorials providing step by step approach to add a new layer can be provided along with live examples.

Issue template for adding new layers

• An issue labelled 'new layer' should be self sufficient in terms of relevant information.
• A methodology should be clearly defined for addition of new layers into the library in a consistent manner.

Improving modularilty

• The current codebase has some amount of redundant codes and scope for increasing modularity.
• We can use webpack to keep layers in separate files and bundling them together.

Internal documentation and linting

• Each function should be properly explained.
• Linting should be provided to ensure the code maintains readability and can be easily grasped by a new comers.
• The code should follow a proper style guide, like one laid out by Google: https://google.github.io/styleguide/jsguide.html#formatting-comments

Adding tests

• The library uses a lots of API, making it difficult to check manually if all of them are working manually.
• JavaScript test frameworks like Jasmine can be used to test the functioning of APIs and layers time to time.

Lack of active contributors to the library

• The library has currently a small number of regular contributors. Focus should be given on attracting new contributors and motivating them to keep contributing.
• One-to-one mentoring can be followed till a new contributor gets comfortable with the code base and a good amount of 'fto' issues should be made regularly.
• Good documentations and contributing guidelines will be very helpful to attract new and active contributors.

Incorporating Leaflet.VectorGrid plugin

• The library currently supports raster tiles which are slowly rendered as compared to vector tiles.
• Many of the layers are gradually moving to vector tiles. Even the OpenInfraMaps have switched to vector tiles which is why the layers aren't working in the library anymore.

Improving the User Interface

• Improving the content of popup.
• Supporting minimal mode to display dots instead of markers in a togglable manner.
• Displaying optional legends for each layer.
• Keeping track of bounding box of each layer and the current view to prevent display of unnecessary stuffs.
• Using tabs to show toggle layers.

Including a working demo for fix whenever map is modified

• Using surge for generating the static web-page demo link every time a pull request is made to get a preview of the changes made.

Incorporating TravisCI

• TravisCI can be used for testing and linting purposes.
• It can be used to tests each time a PR is made.

Addition of new layers and improving layer management

• Many new layers including - sea level rise layers, historical flooding data, national emissions inventory data layer, additional fractracker layers, air monitoring layers, etc.
• Standardization of layer types and modules to add layers of generic type.
• Enable/Disable the option to toggle layers based on the current map bounds.

Timeline:

This is a rough schedule of my work as the part of GSoC. It will be subject to

modifications as suggested by the community.

Post proposal Submission (09/04 - 06/05):

• Getting more familiar with the code base by solving more issues.
• Coding guide for addition of new layers and issue template.
• Exploring through various Leaflet plugins and learning Jasmine for testing.

Community Bonding (06/05 - 27/05):

• I will use this time for discussing strategies for improving the structure of the library.
• Finalising the UI by selecting from various proposed UI mockups.

Week 1 (28/05 - 02/06):

• Identification and creation of functions to help reduce redundancy in the layers.
• Refactoring layers to use the common functions.

Week 2 (03/06 - 09/06):

Week 1 (28/05 - 02/06):

• Standardization of different layer types.
• Code to make addition of new layers of a generic type easier

Week 3 (10/06 - 16/06):

• Implementing Leaflet.VectorGrid plugin and fixing the OpenInfraMap layer which currently uses vector tile layers.

Week 4 (17/06 - 23/06):

• Displaying optional legends for each layer.
• Implementing minimal mode to toggle between markers and dots.

First evaluation (24/06 - 28/06)

Week 5 (24/06 - 30/06):

• Improving content of the popup with thumbnails and links.
• Using Leaflet-Hash to open the map at a given location and zoom level.

Week 6 (01/07 - 07/07):

• Implementing the bounding box strategy, keeping track of available layers and showing only those which intersect with the current map bounds.

Week 7 (08/07 - 14/07):

• Event listener to handle identification of new layers and notifying the user.
• Enable/Remove layers based on current map bounds.

Week 8 (15/07 - 21/07):

• Storing information about new layers in JSON files.
• Implementation of new layers.

Second evaluation (22/07 - 26/07)

Week 9 (22/07 - 28/07):

• Adding documentations for the library.
• Using eslint instead of jshint for linting.
• Issue template, PR template, Coding guidance for adding new layers.

Week 10 (29/07 - 04/08):

• Writing tests for the library using Jasmine and HTML tests for proper functioning of the map.

Week 11 (05/08 - 11/08):

• Configuring TravisCI for the library.
• Incorporating surge for previews during PR.

Week 12 (12/08 - 18/08):

• Buffer period to catch up with backlog.
• Refactor the code.
• Bug fixing (If any left)
• Refining documentation

Week 13 (19/08 - 26/08):

• Prepare for final submission.
• Discuss future scope of the project.

Final evaluation (26/08 - 02/09)

Post final evaluation:

• Mentoring first time contributors...
• Getting familiar with other public lab projects that use this library and contributing to them.

Needs:

I would need all the guidance and feedback from the community to ensure the project is heading in a desirable direction. I might also need the help of previous contributors of the project to understand the implementation of certain aspects of the project.

First-time contributions:

I feel public lab follows a really amiable approach to welcome new contributors. I believe every new comer faces difficulty in finding a suitable issue to work upon and getting his doubts cleared by the community. The community website serves well in helping the newcomers find a good first issue and I have always found the community to be quick and patient when it comes to solving doubts.
For my first contribution, I found all the issues to be already claimed. I asked the community for helping me find an issue in the gitter channel and was asked to look at issues labeled ef→-candidate.

My first contribution : https://github.com/publiclab/leaflet-environmental-layers/pull/124
It felt great to have my first PR merged in this project. I was glad to receive a invite to join the Public Lab community that motivated me to keep contributing to this project.

Open issues: https://github.com/publiclab/leaflet-environmental-layers/issues/created_by/rkpattnaik780
Closed PRs: https://github.com/publiclab/leaflet-environmental-layers/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aclosed+author%3Arkpattnaik780
Comments: https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=commenter%3Arkpattnaik780+org%3Apubliclab&type=Issues

Experience:

I am Ramakrishna Pattnaik, a pre-final year Computer Science and Engineering student from College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar. In my academic curriculum, I have opted for courses in programming, data structures, algorithms, databases, operating system, and AI. Apart from my regular curriculum, I am a web developer who has primarily worked with MEAN stack along with Flask, Vue.js, D3.js and other popular web technologies. I am proficient in C, C++, Java and Python programming language.

I was always fascinated to see apps making our day to day lives easier and I intend to contribute to software that will impact the lives of people. My programming journey began from higher secondary when I had basics of C++ programming and SQL in the course curriculum. As soon as I joined college I ventured more into technologies beyond the usual course structure. I started working on full stack website development using MEAN stack along with responsive web design and data visualization. Having experience as a freelance website developer, I am confident at Android application development and also have experience in AI projects particularly in "Deep Learning" and "Computer Vision".

I have done two web development internships under startups as a student which helped me gain more knowledge regarding the best practices of web development as well as production-level code. The first internship revolved around creating a database management system. My second internship had me working with geospatial data along with database storage and map-based data visualizations. I have good knowledge of Git and actively use GitHub for contributing and collaborating in projects.

GitHub profile: https://github.com/rkpattnaik780

GitLab profile: https://gitlab.com/rkpattnaik780

Projects :-

• Illness Predictor
• Engineer's Cup Live
• Angular-socket yeoman
• Crimson

Team work:

I have worked in a team for most of my projects, coding competitions, hackathons and internships. I have participated in various hackathons in city & national level and won two. I have done two web development internships in startups. My first internship revolved around creating a database management system. My second internship had me working with geospatial data along with database and map-based data visualizations. I have been comfortable working in team and always considered to be a team player. I believe that developing something as a team makes the project finer as it has inputs from different perspectives as well as helps the developers learn from best parts of each other.

Passion:

Climate change has become a matter of since the last two decades. Our environment has become more polluted than ever and as concerned human beings we need to protect it from further degradation. According to a recent survey, India accounts for 22 of the 30 most polluted cities of the world. According to the report, air pollution will cause around 7 million premature deaths globally next year and have a major economic impact. I wish to be a part of the Public Lab family cause I want to play my part in this big fight against climate change.

Audience:

I want my work to help the various newly established environmental NGOs. I also want new contributors to find this project beginner friendly and get familiar with open source.

Commitment:

I am very well aware of the efforts it is going to take to make this project successful. I am ready to give my best in order to make this endeavour successful and will love to continue with Public Lab through and beyond the summer.

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