Yet another introduction to the challenges of geocoding and the ways we approach those problems at Lokku/Nestoria. I describe the details of how we tackle geocoding in countries like India, and also plug our the new OpenCage Data Geocoder API.

1. Geocoding the World
(in Perl)
Alex Balhatchet @ YAPC::EU 2014, София България

5. What is Geocoding?

6. What is Geocoding?
147
Tsarigradsko
shose blvd
1784
Sofia
Bulgaria
Geocoder
42.649996
23.394527

7. Geocoding at
Nestoria

8. Geocoding at Nestoria
Property
Listing
(XML)
Geocoder
(Perl!)
Results
(Percona)

9. UK - so beautiful...
<location>
<full_address>Wold View, Caistor LN7</full_address>
<postcode>LN7 6UU</postcode>
<latitude>53.496356</latitude>
<longitude>-0.312442</longitude>
<coordinate_system>WGS84</coordinate_system>
<coordinate_confidence unit="gmaps">5</coordinate_confidence>
<placenames>
<street number="4">Wold View</street>
<town>Caistor, Market Rasen</town>
</placenames>
</location>

10. UK Postcodes are insane
<postcode>LN7 6UU</postcode>

11. Germany - still quite good
<geo>
<strasse>Fischbeker Weg 12</strasse>
<ort>Bargteheide</ort>
<bundesland>Schleswig-Holstein</bundesland>
<plz>22941</plz>
</geo>

12. France - surprisingly bad data
<location>
<postcode>47000</postcode>
<placenames>
<town></town>
<region>Aquitaine</region>
</placenames>
</location>

13. India - nightmare mode unlocked
<location>
<full_address>Hiland Landmark,Jangamakote, Vijayapura, Devanahalli, Bangalore,
Karnataka, INDIA.</full_address>
<latitude>13.280192></latitude>
<longitude>77.848219</longitude>
<placenames>
<building>Hiland Landmark</building>
<area>Devanahalli</area>
<town>Bangalore</town>
<province>jangamakote</province>
</placenames>
</location>

14. India - nightmare mode unlocked

15. The Solution
The Nestoria Geocoder

16. Geodata
+ our own “amendments”

17. Nestoria Geocoder Internals

18. Nestoria Geocoder Internals

19. Nestoria Geocoder Internals

20. Nestoria Geocoder Internals

21. Nestoria Geocoder Internals

22. Nestoria Geocoder Internals

23. Nestoria Geocoder Internals

24. Nestoria Geocoder Internals

25. Nestoria Geocoder Internals

26. Nestoria Geocoder Internals

27. External Geocoders
■ https://metacpan.org/search?q=Geo::Coder
■ Lots available!
■ Mostly very low daily usage limits (1000s per day)
■ We wrote Geo::Coder::Many to help multiplex between
them within usage limits

28. The Bad News

30. The Good News

31. OpenCage Geocoder API
■ http://geocoder.opencagedata.com/
■ Geo::Coder::OpenCage
■ Currently free
■ Will always have a free tier

32. OpenCage Geocoder API
■ It’s new!
■ Please try it out and give us your feedback
■ @opencagedata
■ geocoder.opencagedata.com/contact.html

33. Thanks / Questions