3.08 Map Tour Tutorial

3.8 Map Tour Tutorial Curriculum Page

Portfolio Reflection Questions:

1. How are lists used in this app? Why is a list a useful data abstraction or an abstract data type (ADT) in programming? Is it easy to add new destinations to the tour?
   • In this app, the lists are used in order to list the destinations that one can see on the map. A list is a useful data abstraction, or ADT in programming because it is a collection of data that represents a number of ordered pairs and easily categorizes them. It is easy to add new destination to the tour. I simply have to add a new marker by inputting the longitude and latitude of the destination, and add it to the lists for the website and the list of destinations.
2. How do APIs simplify complex programming tasks? Pick an app that you use on your device (e.g. Twitter, Google Maps) and see whether it provides an API and some of the functions you can control with it. Describe your results below.
   • APIs simplify complex programming tasks by simplifying the code to run two applications that can communicate. The app instagram provides an API so that it can have ads displayed. This way users can click on an ad and the website for the company will pop up and conceal instagram. In addition to this, people can use aspects from third party apps on instagram due to its API.
3. How is GPS used in this app? Do some research to find out how GPS works and describe it here in a couple sentences.
   • The GPS is used in this app when the user's current location is shown on the map. GPS is made up of three parts: receivers, satellites, and ground stations. Ground stations check to make sure that the satellites are in their correct position in order to send out signals. The receivers are located in digital device, like a phone, and receive the signals from the satellites. The receiver takes in all the signals from surrounding satellites in order to pinpoint someone's exact location.
4. Insert screenshots of the enhancements that you made below and describe how they work.
   • In the first picture, the first block of code was created in order to create a list for the types of maps including roads, aerial, and terrain. The second block of code created a list for the numbers that will correspond with each type of map. The third block of code was created in order to have all the destinations in the map type list be presented in the list if the button for map type is clicked. The fourth block of code was created with an if/else/then block in order to change the view of the map in correspondence with a value for the type of view.
   • The second image is of a block of code that enables a "slider" to be used to zoom in on the map for a larger view on the map. When the position of the slider is changed, the zoom level will change to the thumb position.