FOSS4GNA 2023 | MapLibre Native Upgrade: A modular rendering architecture for the future

Summary:

MapLibre Native underwent a significant upgrade to address technical debt and compatibility issues, specifically related to the transition from OpenGL ES to Apple's Metal rendering SDK. The upgrade was driven by a collaborative effort involving multiple contributors, including Stamen, AWS, and the MapLibre community. The project aimed to modularize the renderer, with a focus on achieving multi-SDK support, particularly for Metal. The primary goals included transitioning to direct metal rendering, moving certain operations to the GPU, addressing threading issues, and enhancing shader and layer management.

Highlights:

MapLibre Native underwent a major upgrade to address technical debt and compatibility issues, transitioning from OpenGL ES to Apple's Metal rendering SDK.

Collaborative effort involving Stamen, AWS, and the MapLibre community, with the project aiming to achieve multi-SDK support, particularly for Metal.

[⚙️] Modularization of the renderer was a key focus to enable support for multiple rendering SDKs simultaneously.

[🔄] Primary goal was the transition to direct metal rendering, ensuring compatibility with modern GPUs and addressing performance issues.

[🔧] Secondary goals included moving certain operations to the GPU, addressing threading issues, and enhancing shader and layer management.

[🌐] The upgrade project involved a diverse team with contributions from AWS, Stamen, Meta, and MapLibre maintainers.

[📆] The project was set to conclude in November, marking the completion of the initial phases of the MapLibre Native upgrade.