GEOG 489
Advanced Python Programming for GIS

Welcome to GEOG 489 - GIS Application Development

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Overview

In GEOG 489, you will learn advanced applications of Python for developing and customizing GIS software, designing user interfaces, solving complex geoprocessing tasks, and leveraging open source. The course consists of readings, walkthroughs, projects, quizzes, and discussions about advanced GIS programming concepts and techniques, and a final term project. It complements the material covered in GEOG 485: GIS Programming and Software Development. Software covered in the course includes: Esri ArcGIS Pro/arcpy, Jupyter Notebook, Esri ArcGIS API for Python, QGIS, GDAL/OGR. Students will also make use of the Git version control software for code management, and learn techniques for distributing Python applications to end users. GEOG 489 is an elective for Penn State's Master of GIS and M.S. in Spatial Data Science degrees, as well as the GIS Certificate and Geospatial Programming Certificate.

Learn more about GEOG 489, Advanced Python Programming for GIS (1min, 35sec)

Click here for a transcript of the course introduction.

Hi, I'm Jim Detweiler one of the instructors in Penn State's course Geography 489, Advanced Python Programming for GIS. I've done a few other course welcome videos and it's tempting to let you think I'm some super prolific course author, but I should probably fess up that I'm recording this because the guys who actually did the amazing job developing this course live abroad. Jan Wallgrün is in Deutschland and James O'Brien comes from the land down under.

This course builds on our introductory GIS programming course GEOG 485 and it's intended for students who excelled in that course or who have acquired similar knowledge and skills in industry. So, what will you learn in this class? You'll learn about customizing both proprietary and open-source GIS packages, ArcGIS Pro and QGIS, object-oriented programming in Python, version control systems like Github, improving script performance through 64-bit and parallel processing user interface development, packaging and distributing your Python programs, and finally spatial data science programming with Jupiter notebook and ESRI ArcGIS API for Python. And like our other programming courses you'll have a chance to apply what you learn to a final project of your own choosing. Our hope is that this class will help you to become an expert GIS developer in your office if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me, Jan, or James will be happy to help!

Credit: © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Want to join us? Students who register for this Penn State course gain access to assignments and instructor feedback and earn academic credit. For more information, visit Penn State's Online Geospatial Education Program website. Official course descriptions and curricular details can be reviewed in the University Bulletin.

This course is offered as part of the Repository of Open and Affordable Materials at Penn State. You are welcome to use and reuse materials that appear on this site (other than those copyrighted by others) subject to the licensing agreement linked to the bottom of this and every page.