Summary

After 2005, when Google introduced the raster tiles, all websites with maps and mapping libraries have adopted this technology and up to this day it is being used in the same way. But the users nowadays demand a quick and most importantly interactive web maps. That is why vector tiles have been created. The new principle has preserved the tiling of web maps as in case of raster tiles, but vector objects are loaded in the browser instead of pictures. These objects can be further manipulated by the user. This thesis compares raster and vector tiles, defines technical specification of the technologies and the similarities and differences between them. Using both raster and vector tiles, sample web map applications are created which use different tile formats, tile servers and access the data in various locations. These applications are then subject to a performance testing which was designed to simulate the user’s behaviour when using the map. The comparison is done based on metrics such as the loading speed, the size of downloaded data or the amount of server requests. The test results describe the main differences between the raster and vector tiles and also the advantages and disadvantages of the methods.