Leaflet is a widely used open source JavaScript library used to build web mapping applications.

First released in 2011,[2] it supports most mobile and desktop platforms, supporting HTML5
and CSS3. Along with OpenLayers, and the Google Maps API, it is one of the most popular
JavaScript mapping libraries and is used by major web sites such as FourSquare, Pinterest and
Flickr.
Leaflet allows developers without a GIS background to very easily display tiled web maps
hosted on a public server, with optional tiled overlays. It can load feature data from GeoJSON
files, style it and create interactive layers, such as markers with popups when clicked.
It is developed by Vladimir Agafonkin, who joined MapBox in 2013
A typical use of Leaflet involves binding a Leaflet "map" element to an HTML element such as a div.
Layers and markers are then added to the map element.

Features
Leaflet supports Web Map Service (WMS) layers, GeoJSON layers, Vector layers and Tile
layers natively. Many other types of layers are supported via plugins.
Like other web map libraries, the basic display model implemented by Leaflet is one basemap,
plus zero or more translucent overlays, with zero or more vector objects displayed on top.

Elements
The major Leaflet object types are:[4]

Raster types (TileLayer and ImageOverlay)

Vector types (Path, Polygon, and specific types such as Circle)
Grouped types (LayerGroup, FeatureGroup and GeoJSON)
Controls (Zoom, Layers, etc.)

There are also a variety of utility classes such as interfaces for managing projections,
transformations and interacting with the DOM.

Support for GIS formats

Leaflet has core support for few GIS standard formats, with others supported in plugins.
Standard
Support
GeoJSON
Good, core support through the geoJson function[5]
KML, CSV, WKT, TopoJSON, GPX Supported in Leaflet-Omnivore plugin[6]
WMS
Core support through the TileLayer.WMS[7] subtype
WFS
Not supported, although 3rd party plugins exist.[8]
Not supported.[9]
GML

Browser support
Leaflet 0.7 supports Chrome, Firefox, Safari 5+, Opera 12+ and IE 7-11.[10]

Comparison with other libraries

Leaflet is directly comparable with OpenLayers, as both are open source, client-side only
JavaScript libraries. The library as a whole is much smaller, around 7,000 lines of code
compared to 230,000 as of 2015.[11] It has a smaller code footprint than OpenLayers (around
123 KB[12] vs 423 KB[13]) due partly to its modular structure. The code base is newer, and takes
advantage of recent features of JavaScript, plus HTML5 and CSS3. However, Leaflet lacks
features OpenLayers supports, such as Web Feature Service (WFS)[14] and native support for
projections other than Google Web Mercator (EPSG 3857).[15]
It is also comparable to the proprietary, closed source Google Maps API (debuting in 2005)
and Bing Maps API, both of which incorporate a significant server-side component to provide
services such as geocoding, routing, search and integration with features such as Google
Earth.[citation needed] Google Maps API provides speed and simplicity, but is flexible, and can only
be used to access Google Maps services. The new DataLayer part of Google's API does allow
external data sources to be displayed, however.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaflet_(software)

Leaflet is the leading open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps.
Weighing just about 33 KB of JS, it has all the mapping features most developers ever need.
Leaflet is designed with simplicity, performance and usability in mind. It works efficiently
across all major desktop and mobile platforms, can be extended with lots of plugins, has a
beautiful, easy to use and well-documented API and a simple, readable source code that is
a joy to contribute to.
http://leafletjs.com/