GeoServer is open source, server-side software written in Java that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. In this book, you'll start by learning how to develop a spatial analysis platform with web processing services. Then you'll see how to develop an algorithm by chaining together geospatial analysis processes, which you can share with anyone in the world. Next you'll delve into a very important technique to improve the speed of your map application—tile caching. Here, you'll understand how tile caching works, how to develop an effective tile cache-supported web service, and how to leverage tile caching in your OpenLayers web application. Further on, you'll explore important tweaks to produce a performant GeoServer-backed web mapping application. Moving on, you'll enable authentication on the frontend and backend to protect sensitive map data, and deliver sensitive data to your end user. Finally, you'll see how to put your web application into production in a secure and user-friendly way. You'll go beyond traditional web hosting to explore the full range of hosting options in the cloud, and maintain a reliable server instance.