Inspiration
My girlfriend does a lot of running, and I thought it would be cool to create an app that generates running paths.
What it does
It generates paths for runners based on your current location.
How I built it
I built it using javascript and the Google Maps API. I formatted it with HTML and CSS.
Challenges I ran into
The Google Maps API really isn't good for anything except finding the fastest way to get somewhere. It doesn't even account for distance very well. I had to write a lot of code to process information returned by their API.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
I processed all of the data by hand. I also made the paths interesting, which was hard because Google Maps always wants to go in a straight line. I also used a calculation of the curvature of the earth to get the distance between points.
What I learned
Google Maps isn't really good for anything other than what they want you to use it for. In that case, it's very convenient to use.
What's next for PathFinder
I want to allow people to save paths using SQL, create looping paths, and to format the page for mobile.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.