About developing with task services
ArcGIS Online tasks are published and hosted by Esri and include task-based functional services such as place finding and geocoding, routing and network analysis, and spatial query. As a developer you can use these task services to add spatial context to your existing data and deploy location-aware client applications. For example, you can turn your spreadsheet of customer data into an interactive map that shows spending patterns by ZIP Code. The map can be viewed in a web browser, a mobile app, and desktop application.
The ArcGIS Online task services communicate through the GeoServices REST Specification. The REST specification makes the task services usable in popular client-side development environments such as JavaScript, Flex, Silverlight, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. To use the task services in your client application, you can copy and paste the REST URL into the code of your application. You can see a list of the available tasks through the Esri Maps and Data group in ArcGIS Online. The URLs for the services can be found in the corresponding item details pages in ArcGIS Online. You can also access specific resources and operations within the services to build highly customized applications. For general information on using the ArcGIS REST API, see ArcGIS REST API.
The ArcGIS Online API includes the following task services:
Geocoding
Geocoding allows you to find and display addresses on a map and see how they relate to surrounding features. Sometimes you can see relationships by just looking at the map; other times, you will want to use additional task services such as geoenrichment to reveal information that can't be easily seen.
The World Geocoding service finds addresses and places in over 100 countries from a single REST URL. The service can find point locations of addresses, business names, and so on. The output points can be visualized on a map, inserted as stops for a route, or loaded as input for a spatial analysis.
Network analysis
When you want to know how to get somewhere, a map can provide a lot of information. But what about when you want to know the quickest way to get there? It's often impossible to choose the most efficient route just by looking at a map, particularly if you're a business that has more than one stop to visit. Instead, you will want to perform network analysis to find the best route. For example, what is the quickest way to get from point A to point B given current traffic conditions? Which ambulances are closest to an incident? How can a fleet of delivery vehicles minimize both delivery time and transportation costs?
The Network Analysis Services analyze these types of complex routing problems and provide results that let organizations make sound strategic decisions.
Spatial analysis
Imagine you've been tasked to evaluate potential sites for a new warehouse. This evaluation is to be based on access to transportation, the presence of special restrictions such as nearby historical neighborhoods, access to restaurants and other facilities that employees may need, access to public transportation for employees, and nearby landuse that may restrict or enhance development. How do you evaluate these sites in a quantifiable and defensible way? Of course you need data, but you also need tools that can analyze and measure geographic relationships.
Whenever you look at a map, you inherently start turning that map into information by finding patterns, assessing trends, or making decisions. This process is called spatial analysis, and it's what our eyes and minds do naturally whenever we look at a map.
The Spatial Analysis Service contains tasks to help you quantify patterns and relationships in your data.