Which is better pure OpenLayers or GeoExt?
Which has more options with respect to GIS client-side
Geographic Information Systems Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for cartographers, geographers and GIS professionals. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityWhich is better pure OpenLayers or GeoExt?
Which has more options with respect to GIS client-side
This is somewhat of a trick question. In terms of GIS functionality, both GeoExt and OpenLayers are very good, approximately equally well-suited to whatever your application is. This is because GeoExt is based on OpenLayers.
The real question you should be asking is whether you're already working in an environment with a powerful Javascript DOM-manipulation library like jQuery, mooTools, or Prototype. If so, then you should avoid GeoExt (mixing DOM Libraries makes very muddy code) and choose OpenLayers. One caveat here is that if you're already working with Ext.js and you're not relying upon bleeding-edge functionality, you should be able to just drop-in GeoExt without much difficulty. If you're starting from scratch, on the other hand, then it really doesn't matter which one you choose--pick the DOM manipulator you like better: if it's Ext, use GeoExt. If not, use OpenLayers.