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Re: IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, Maple... [message #19634] Tue, 11 April 2000 00:00
davidf is currently offline  davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
Senior Member
Paul van Delst (pvandelst@ncep.noaa.gov) writes:

> paul "not-trying-to-start-and-IDL-vs-Matlab-thread" v

The proper way to handle this is to get a roll of duct
tape and have your office mate tape you to your chair
in such a way that your fingers can't reach the keyboard,
as I learned to my chagrin several weeks ago. :-(

Cheers,

David

--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
Phone: 970-221-0438 E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Toll-Free IDL Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155
Re: IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, Maple... [message #19635 is a reply to message #19634] Tue, 11 April 2000 00:00 Go to previous message
Paul van Delst is currently offline  Paul van Delst
Messages: 364
Registered: March 1997
Senior Member
David McClain wrote:
>
> IDL and MatLab are intrinsically numeric modeling languages - no symbolic
> capabilities.

Hmm. I really don't think of IDL as a numeric modelling language but a
tool to help me display data quickly. When I think of numerical analysis
I think Matlab (although I don't use it).

paul "not-trying-to-start-and-IDL-vs-Matlab-thread" v
--
Paul van Delst Ph: (301) 763-8000 x7274
CIMSS @ NOAA/NCEP Fax: (301) 763-8545
Rm.202, 5200 Auth Rd. Email: pvandelst@ncep.noaa.gov
Camp Springs MD 20746
Re: IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, Maple... [message #19637 is a reply to message #19634] Tue, 11 April 2000 00:00 Go to previous message
marc schellens[1] is currently offline  marc schellens[1]
Messages: 183
Registered: January 2000
Senior Member
Mirko Vukovic wrote:
>
> In article <38EFE9C5.1C84B373@princeton.edu>,
> sangshim@princeton.edu wrote:
>> Dear Experts,
>> I don't think it is appropriate to ask this question here.
> But...
>> I have used IDL for my research (mostly fit and plot big
> datasets and
>> do numerical simulations) last 3 years and enjoyed a lot. Recently I
> am
>> interested in other math softwares but I cannot find information like
>> "which is good for which".
>> Would you compare IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, and Maple?
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Dan
>>
> (not being an expert), I recently checked the Matlab site. And you
> know, they talk about operator overloading there! I'd love that in IDL.
>
> As for symbolic software, I would love if someone could point me to some
> that makes equation manipulation easy. I don't care much for evaluating
> an integral or a derivative, but something that easily pulls a factor
> out of an expression and stuff like that would make me a happy person.
>
> Mirko
Cool. I predict that this will become one of the very long threads.
Being also not an expert I heard from experts in my group that mathlab
is better for
instantaneous use, while IDL is better for programming use.
Even though (a statement I wanted to give for a long time) I think IDL
is made from scientists for
scientists, as C++ for example is made from programmers for programmers.
cheers,
:-) marc
Re: IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, Maple... [message #19638 is a reply to message #19634] Mon, 10 April 2000 00:00 Go to previous message
David McClain is currently offline  David McClain
Messages: 17
Registered: January 1999
Junior Member
IDL and MatLab are intrinsically numeric modeling languages - no symbolic
capabilities. Mathematica, Maple, Derive, Macsyma are symbolic languages
with very poor performance for numeric modeling.

But why give up one for the other? With Mathematica there is a Mathlink
connection to NML which is superior in performance to IDL. But if you don't
want to learn functional programming, you can also use IDL because there is
an RPC link from NML to IDL. That way you have the best of both worlds!

- DM

Sang-Heon Shim <sangshim@princeton.edu> wrote in message
news:38EFE9C5.1C84B373@princeton.edu...
> Dear Experts,
> I don't think it is appropriate to ask this question here. But...
> I have used IDL for my research (mostly fit and plot big datasets and
> do numerical simulations) last 3 years and enjoyed a lot. Recently I am
> interested in other math softwares but I cannot find information like
> "which is good for which".
> Would you compare IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, and Maple?
> Thanks.
>
> Dan
Re: IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, Maple... [message #19640 is a reply to message #19638] Mon, 10 April 2000 00:00 Go to previous message
Brad Gom is currently offline  Brad Gom
Messages: 49
Registered: August 1997
Member
Since I like avoid big expensive software packages whenever possible (except
IDL, sigh.), I can recommend 'Derive' (http://www.derive.com/derive.htm)
It is a compact program that handles algebraic and symbolic math quite well.
The last version I used was for DOS, but the interface was very useable.
There is a windows version now, I believe. They have academic pricing that
is very reasonable too. It isn't nearly as fancy as Matlab or other
packages, but it gets the math done.


good luck

Brad

Mirko Vukovic wrote:

> In article <38EFE9C5.1C84B373@princeton.edu>,
> sangshim@princeton.edu wrote:
>> Dear Experts,
>> I don't think it is appropriate to ask this question here.
> But...
>> I have used IDL for my research (mostly fit and plot big
> datasets and
>> do numerical simulations) last 3 years and enjoyed a lot. Recently I
> am
>> interested in other math softwares but I cannot find information like
>> "which is good for which".
>> Would you compare IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, and Maple?
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Dan
>>
> (not being an expert), I recently checked the Matlab site. And you
> know, they talk about operator overloading there! I'd love that in IDL.
>
> As for symbolic software, I would love if someone could point me to some
> that makes equation manipulation easy. I don't care much for evaluating
> an integral or a derivative, but something that easily pulls a factor
> out of an expression and stuff like that would make me a happy person.
>
> Mirko
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Before you buy.
Re: IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, Maple... [message #19643 is a reply to message #19638] Mon, 10 April 2000 00:00 Go to previous message
Mirko Vukovic is currently offline  Mirko Vukovic
Messages: 124
Registered: January 1996
Senior Member
In article <38EFE9C5.1C84B373@princeton.edu>,
sangshim@princeton.edu wrote:
> Dear Experts,
> I don't think it is appropriate to ask this question here.
But...
> I have used IDL for my research (mostly fit and plot big
datasets and
> do numerical simulations) last 3 years and enjoyed a lot. Recently I
am
> interested in other math softwares but I cannot find information like
> "which is good for which".
> Would you compare IDL, Matlab, Mathematica, and Maple?
> Thanks.
>
> Dan
>
(not being an expert), I recently checked the Matlab site. And you
know, they talk about operator overloading there! I'd love that in IDL.

As for symbolic software, I would love if someone could point me to some
that makes equation manipulation easy. I don't care much for evaluating
an integral or a derivative, but something that easily pulls a factor
out of an expression and stuff like that would make me a happy person.

Mirko


Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
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