Chapter 4. Wrapping Our Heads Around Projections

When you look at a map, you are looking at a two dimensional representation of a three dimensional object (the earth). Because we are, essentially, 'losing' a dimension when we create a map, no map is a perfect representation of the earth. All maps have some distortion.

The distortion depends on what projection (a method of representing the earth's surface on a two dimensional plane) you use. In this chapter, we'll talk more about what projections are, why they're important, and how we use them in OpenLayers. We'll also cover some other fundamental geographic principles that will help make it easier to better understand OpenLayers.

In this chapter, we will cover:

• Concept of map projections

• Types of projections

• Longitude, latitude, and other geographic concepts

• OpenLayers projection class

• Transforming coordinates

Let's get started!