diff between overpass and xapi

General talk
1

Hello Cartographers,

I am a starter upper based in Chicago and I currently use the facebook places API for finding places near me. This is suitable for some purposes but FAR from adequate for what I want and my customers need. So, I have started researching how to use osm data for searching interesting places near a lat lon or within a bbox. Most searches are for specific types of places (such as coffee, restaurant, museum etc).

So, what should I do? Should I build my own map database from the planet file? if so, should I use xapi or should I use overpass? Alternatively, would you recommend any cloud hosted services such as Mapquest or Cloudmade?

Thank you!!!

Best,
Sachin

2

Your question is not easy to answer, because we do not know your skills and your hardware you have available.

If I am not wrong, Mapquest and Cloudmade mainly offer map tiles to include in your own website.

Try to build up your own database on an own hardware … or try to run a local instance of Nominatim to start.

If you have bigger aims, have a look at http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Commercial_OSM_Software_and_Services

Tell us where you get stuck in detail, maybe we can give hints.