What is this?
Turf is a modular geospatial engine for JavaScript and TypeScript — a library for spatial analysis that works with GeoJSON data.
Turf is a modular geospatial engine for JavaScript and TypeScript — a library for spatial analysis that works with GeoJSON data.Is it a library I add to my own code, or an app I run?It's a library with no UI of its own: add it to a website as a client-side module or run it server-side with Node.js.
It's a library with no UI of its own: add it to a website as a client-side module or run it server-side with Node.js.How do I get started with it?Install the @turf/turf package from npm, then follow the getting started guide and browse the API docs with examples at turfjs.org.
Install the @turf/turf package from npm, then follow the getting started guide and browse the API docs with examples at turfjs.org.Which JavaScript runtimes can I run it on?Any reasonably modern JS runtime — Node is the first-class citizen (use an Active or Maintenance LTS release). Deno and Bun are not officially supported.
Any reasonably modern JS runtime — Node is the first-class citizen (use an Active or Maintenance LTS release). Deno and Bun are not officially supported.Any gotchas when bundling Turf for the browser?Yes — your build must transpile and polyfill Turf together with all of its transitive dependencies to match your target browsers, or older browsers may fail.
Yes — your build must transpile and polyfill Turf together with all of its transitive dependencies to match your target browsers, or older browsers may fail.Does it work in the browser too, or is it Node-only?Both. The @turf/turf package ships a prebuilt browser bundle — all modules combined, transpiled, and minified into one JavaScript file.
Both. The @turf/turf package ships a prebuilt browser bundle — all modules combined, transpiled, and minified into one JavaScript file.What kinds of spatial tools does it include?Traditional spatial operations, helper functions for creating GeoJSON data, and data classification and statistics tools.
Traditional spatial operations, helper functions for creating GeoJSON data, and data classification and statistics tools.Turf is called modular — what does that mean in practice?Turf is developed as many small per-function modules; the @turf/turf package combines them, and its browser build compiles every module into one minified file.
Turf is developed as many small per-function modules; the @turf/turf package combines them, and its browser build compiles every module into one minified file.Does Turf draw maps, or only crunch the numbers?It computes: spatial operations, GeoJSON creation, and statistics. The README describes no rendering or UI, so visualization is up to whatever map tool displays your results.
It computes: spatial operations, GeoJSON creation, and statistics. The README describes no rendering or UI, so visualization is up to whatever map tool displays your results.Is the project still actively maintained?Yes — it has been developed since 2013, holds over 10,000 GitHub stars, and uses automated CI and release workflows.
Yes — it has been developed since 2013, holds over 10,000 GitHub stars, and uses automated CI and release workflows.What are similar projects?maplibre-gl-js, cesium, kepler.gl, Leaflet, city-roads, dawarich, MapStage, wavedigger
maplibre-gl-js, cesium, kepler.gl, Leaflet, city-roads, dawarich, MapStage, wavediggerWhich topics is it in?mapping, gis, geospatial, maps, algorithm, statistics, monorepo, javascript-library, browser, npm, frontend, nodejs
mapping, gis, geospatial, maps, algorithm, statistics, monorepo, javascript-library, browser, npm, frontend, nodejs