Bing Maps Trip Optimizer Now Available on MSDN Developer Samples!

  • Article

I want to invite you to check out a developer sample that I wrote called Bing Maps Trip Optimizer. Bing Maps Trip Optimizer is a C++ ActiveX control that uses the ant colony optimization algorithm to solve the traveling salesman problem. It is driven by an HTML/JavaScript front-end that collects locations from the user and displays the shortest route among all locations on a Bing Maps control.

This sample illustrates the following technologies and techniques:

  • How to interoperate between HTML/JavaScript and C++.
  • How to use WinINet to call the Bing Maps REST services from C++.
  • How to use Asynchronous Agents to call the Bing Maps REST services in the background, and thus keep your user interface responsive.
  • How to use XmlLite to parse the response stream from the Bing Maps REST services.
  • How to use the Parallel Patterns Library (PPL) to parallelize parts of the any colony optimization algorithm.

 

Although this sample doesn’t exercise the PPL too heavily, you might find the use of Agents to receive responses from Bing Maps to be interesting. The Description tab on the sample page explains how the sample works in greater detail, including a bit about how I used Agents and the PPL to improve performance and responsiveness.

https://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Bing-Maps-Trip-Optimizer-003021ae

BMTO_All

If you find any interesting ways to extend this sample, please let us know! Enjoy!