Developers solve problems every day and enjoy having options to do so. One option is rarely the only solution for all. This is why there are so many choices a developer needs to make, such as programming language, tooling, and platform to name a few. When new alternatives become available, developers often weigh the pros and cons to determine if any are worth pursuing.

Recently, AWS developers have been given another option regarding how to integrate location data and services into their solutions. AWS Location Service is a new alternative for providing maps, geocoding, geofencing, and location data. In this post, we will cover why a developer may choose AWS Location Service, and how by doing so, can still receive the value of the rich data and services provided by HERE.

The relevance of home

We know our way around our own home. If we visit another dwelling, we often feel a little lost or need guidance to find where we need to go. AWS Developers already enjoy a vast number of services available at the AWS Developer Console - arguably their home. It is often easier to discover and select options from within that environment.

AWS developers are likely already using services like Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Cognito to help manage security concerns within their solutions. Instead of implementing a new security model from a third-party resource, AWS developers can use an approach they are already familiar with to integrate AWS Location Service.

How to get the best of both

When developers choose AWS Location Service even more options become available. One of those options is choosing the underlying data provider for services such as maps and place index (geocoding and search). Fortunately, HERE is one of those data providers! By selecting HERE as a data provider, an AWS developer gets the best of both - familiarity with AWS environment, and trusted location data/services from HERE!

Summary

In this post we explored a new option for AWS developers - AWS Location Service. We also shared that developers could choose HERE to be the underlying data provider. In an upcoming post, we will offer a simple step-by-step approach showing how to use AWS Location Service using HERE!