Understanding the Basics of the GeoJSON Standard

Colby Fayock: [0:00] Before we jump into the data, we want to understand the basics of GeoJSON. At its core, GeoJSON is just a JSON document, but what's special about it is its structure, like its properties type, geometry, and properties, which help define geographic data structures.

[0:12] For type, typically, when you're defining one geographic area, it's going to be called a feature. For geometry, that's going to be the shape. While here, we have a point, which is just a map marker. You can also have things like polygons or circles.

[0:23] Finally, properties can be really whatever you want it to be. While it probably makes sense to try to be consistent with your properties, really, you can add whatever you want. Here, we have a name, or you can add the hours of a restaurant or if they serve vegan food. Ultimately, those properties are up for you to decide.

[0:36] When we want to define more than one feature, we're going to use a feature collection. As you can see, this feature is similar to what we saw before, but the difference is it's collected inside of a feature collection with a features property that includes multiple features. Those basic points should get you started with GeoJSON.