AGD Landscape & Environment 6 (2) 2012. 76-92.

1. Beginner: Data display

2. Experienced: A simple analysis, editing
3. Expert: GIS analysis
4. Researcher and Developer: Programming and Scripting

Fig. 1. Software according to the users’ profile (according to Sherman, 2001)

Table 2.Various GIS applications, grouped by usability

Name of Programme
Application Release Date User Profile1 Language Raster/Vector
expert &
Grass 1982 researcher C, Tcl/Tk, Python raster and vector
from beginner to
QGIS 2002 researcher C++, Qt4, Python mainly vector
from beginner to
SAGA 2001 researcher MS Visual C mainly raster
from beginner to
uDIG 2004 researcher JAVA mainly vector
from beginner to
OpenJump 2002 researcher JAVA vector and raster
from beginner to
ILWIS Open 1984 researcher MS Visual C raster and vector
from beginner to
gvSIG 2003 researcher JAVA mainly vector
from beginner to
MapWindow 2005 researcher C++, .Net raster and vector
1See the user profiles below.

80