What we learned when a user tried to load a massive GML file in a browser
Summary
Browser memory and parsing bottlenecks prevent loading a 1 GB GML file in-browser; vector tiling (MVT/PMTiles) enables interactive viewing by streaming only the visible tiles. The article outlines an end-to-end tile pipeline, critiques in-browser tiling approaches, and surveys the OSM/tiling ecosystem, advocating precomputed vector tiles for large geospatial datasets.