GIS Developer Roadmap | Online GIS Courses

Outline for becoming a GIS developer

The following outline is based on my experience with GIS technology. I am developing a free online GIS course for new learners and GIS enthusiasts. There are a lot of free and introductory GIS courses but I was looking for a roadmap that can guide a person who is in the initial stages of learning. I hope this effort will help someone who want to follow a proper learning path in GIS technology.

• Introduction to GIS and Remote Sensing
  • Coordinate Systems & Projections
    • UTM / WGS / NAD etc
  • GPS / GNSS Systems and apps
  • Basic Map Reading and Geography
  • Common Mapping and GIS Software
• Map Reading
  • Legends
  • Thematic Maps
  • Color Combination
  • Map Essentials – Basic Cartography
  • Interactive Maps e.g. Google Maps, OSM, etc.
• Understanding of Datasets
  • Data Sources and Platforms
    • USGS / Census Tracts / Tiger data, etc
  • Datastructures
    • Database and DBMS, Data storage ethics
  • Rasters
    • Geotiff / DEM / HDF / ENVI etc.
  • Vectors
    • KML / KMZ / Shapefiles / GeoJSON
  • Basic Opensource GIS Operations
    • Georeference (Online Georeferencing by Georeferencer)
    • Digitization
    • GeoJSON
    • ArcGIS Online
    • QGIS (opening the KML from Google Earth)
• GIS Analysis Software & Techniques
  • Licensed – Arcmap
  • Open Source – QGIS
  • Online Sources
    • Google Earth Engine
    • ArcGIS Online
    • Google My Maps
• Raster Images & Processing
  • Offline Geoprocessing
  • Downloading Imagery USGS / Sentinel
  • Common Indices NDVI / NDSI/ NDWI etc.
  • Automation in ArcMap Model Builder
    • Streams Delineation
    • LST Calculation
    • Suitability Analysis
• Vector Processing
  • Creating Point / Line / Polygon
  • Working on Attribute Data
  • Table Join / Merge / Mask etc.
  • Symbology / Labelling
• Geoprocessing tools
  • Spatial Analyst Tools
  • Statistics tools
  • Spatial Join
  • Elevation maps
• GIS / RS Coding Introduction
  • Python and Javascript basics
  • Leaflet Maps (JS) / Mapbox (JS) / Fiona (Python) / Shapely(Python)
  • gdal / geemap / arcpy / pyQGIS / Rasterio
  • Matplotlib / numpy / geopandas
  • PostGIS / Geoserver
  • HTML / CSS

Feel free to add your comments and suggestions. Your suggestions are always welcome.

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