In order to make maps legible, we must sometimes perturb the location and size of the features. Secondly, manual map analysis is a very slow process. Looking for a particular feature requires a visual scan of the entire map unless the user is given some approximate idea of where the feature might occur. Analytical functions such as finding the length of a highway and the area of a province often demand painstaking efforts to measure and compute by hand. Computer technology has drastically changed the way we make and use maps.
Computer mapping is the production of maps with the help of computers.
The final results are stored digitally and can then be processed very efficiently by computers. The computer not only provides practically unlimited storage space, it also allows the storage of the map completely separate from the display of it. Thus, geographical data can be stored in its highest accuracy digitally. When these data are eventually shown on a computer monitor in a map-like form, cartographic enhancements will apply to produce the most effective visual image without affecting the original accuracy. The real power of computer maps comes from the ease in obtaining and analysing data.