Florence is built with existing open web standards (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and the JavaScript framework Svelte. These are already in intensive use for online map making today, so Florence provides a convenient framework on top that is based on cartographic and visualization theory.

We adopt concepts from Bertin’s Semiology of Graphics and Wilkinson’s Grammar of Graphics to create a ‘language’ with a limited number of core concepts or ‘verbs’ that are combined with a declarative style of ‘writing’ visualizations.

For a sense of the range of visualizations made possible using the library, check out the interactive example gallery or start with the tutorials and documentation.

If you want to dive straight in, try out the interactive REPL.

For a more detailed discussion of the framework and its design goals, please have a look at corresponding in article in Cartographic Perspectives:

Poorthuis, A., van der Zee, L., Guo, G., Keong, J. H., & Dy, B. (2020). Florence: a Web-based Grammar of Graphics for Making Maps and Learning Cartography. Cartographic Perspectives, (96). https://doi.org/10.14714/CP96.1645.