Why I probably won’t replace leaflet with MapLibre GL entirely on the blog
I had hoped to completely replace Leaflet interactive maps with MapLibre GL 3D maps on the blog. However, upon further research I realized this is not as easy as I thought it would be, as you can not easily use server-styled ArcGIS FeatureLayers on MapLibre GL. The core limitation comes down to WebGL architecture vs. Canvas/SVG architecture:
- Leaflet & OpenLayers use standard HTML5 Canvas/SVG paths. Translating an Esri JSON stroke or fill color into a canvas path command is mathematically straightforward.
- MapLibre GL JS relies on strict, compiled WebGL shaders and a data-driven styling specification. You cannot easily map an abstract vector layer to a shader without translating it into complex, multi-layered MapLibre JSON style expressions or client-side vector tile parsing.

















