basic GPS/NMEA 0183 reader in Processing

This program reads a serial string from a GPS reader. It parses the sentence and returns latitude and longitude.

It’s also a simple example of how to read an ASCII-formatted, comma-delimited serial protocol.

/* 
 GPS NMEA 0183 reader
 
 reads a GPS string in the NMEA 0183 format and returns lat/long. 
 
 For more on GPS and NMEA, see the NMEA FAQ:
 http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter/nmeafaq.txt
 
 by Tom Igoe
 created 1 June 2006
 */

import processing.serial.*;

int linefeed = 10;       // linefeed in ASCII
int carriageReturn = 13; // carriage return in ASCII
Serial myPort;           // The serial port
int sensorValue = 0;     // the value from the sensor

float latitude = 0.0;    // the latitude reading in degrees
String northSouth;       // north or south?
float longitude = 0.0;   // the longitude reading in degrees
String eastWest;         // east or west?


void setup() {
  // List all the available serial ports
  println(Serial.list());

  // I know that the first port in the serial list on my mac
  // is always my  Arduino, so I open Serial.list()[0].
  // Open whatever port is the one you're using.
  myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 4800);

  // read bytes into a buffer until you get a linefeed (ASCII 13):
  myPort.bufferUntil(carriageReturn);
}

void draw() {
  // not doing anything here
}

/*
  serialEvent  method is run automatically by the Processing applet
  whenever the buffer reaches the  byte value set in the bufferUntil() 
  method in the setup():
*/

void serialEvent(Serial myPort) { 
  // read the serial buffer:
  String myString = myPort.readStringUntil(linefeed);
  // if you got any bytes other than the linefeed:
  if (myString != null) {
    // parse the string:
    parseString(myString);
  }
} 

/*
  parseString takes the string and looks for the $GPGLL header.
  if it finds it, it splits the string into components at the commas,
  and stores them in appropriate variables.
*/

void parseString(String serialString) {
  // split the string at the commas
  //and convert the sections into integers:
  String items[] = (split(serialString, ','));
  // if the first item in the sentence is our identifier, parse the rest:
  if (items[0].equals("$GPGLL") == true) {
    // move the items from the string into the variables:
    latitude = float(items[1]);
    northSouth = items[2];
    longitude = float(items[3]);
    eastWest = items[4];
    println(latitude + northSouth + "," +longitude + eastWest);
  }
}