Key Concepts
This section provides information intended to help you understand and use the Venue Maps API.
Before you start working with the Venue Maps API you should familiarize yourself with the following key concepts.
Workflow
The resources in the Venue Maps API are designed to be used in a certain sequence. For example, you wont have much luck requesting a venue model until you detect the venue ID.
See the workflow overview for more information.
Signed Requests
Aside from your authentication credentials, you also need to sign you requests with specific security parameters.
See guide to the making signed requests.
Tiles and Models
Tiles and models are the main types of data that the Venue Maps API provides. These data types have different uses so it's important to find out which one suits your requirements the most.
See overview of tiles and models.
The Mercator Projection and Quadkeys
The Venue Maps API can serve map tiles that are obtained by mapping points on the surface of a sphere (the globe) to points on a plane. To do this, the API uses the normalized Mercator projection. However, to provide the API with the right input, you'll need to do some calculations first.
Load Balancing Requests
The API is optimized for load balancing. You can use this feature to improve response times when you need to submit multiple requests simultaneously.
For more information, see the overview of the venue maps CDN service.