| Origin of IDL [message #21436] |
Mon, 28 August 2000 00:00  |
J�rg Schliwa
Messages: 12
Registered: April 2000
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Junior Member |
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Hi,
I've a general question about the origin of IDL, becourse someone told me
that IDL is a "procedure"-programming language that is based on a language
like C/C++ or Fortran.
So, is IDL an unique language or is it developed from another??
I suppose all the specialists in this newsgroup will know that.
Thanks for any hints,
J�rg
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| Re: Origin of IDL [message #21506 is a reply to message #21436] |
Tue, 29 August 2000 00:00  |
Peter Clinch
Messages: 98
Registered: April 1996
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Member |
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tbowers wrote:
> Anyway, the IDL here (Interactive Data Lang) is based on FORTRAN, but
> obviously
> they're beginning to see the light and beginning to get a little C-ish
> (e.g., 0 based arrays).
> Now, if they'd just give us NULL, have strings as arrays of characters, and
> have include
> files, I think we'll be ok. (Damn, I'm gonna get flamed for sure!)
You certainly are, you forgot the compilation to fully standalone
executables! ;-)
Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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| Re: Origin of IDL [message #21520 is a reply to message #21436] |
Mon, 28 August 2000 00:00 |
T Bowers
Messages: 56
Registered: May 1998
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Member |
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Be careful, IDL also stands for Interface Definition Language used in C, C++
and
Java (and Ada and ?). Look up Interface Definition Language on the net for
more info. This
may cause some confusion.
Anyway, the IDL here (Interactive Data Lang) is based on FORTRAN, but
obviously
they're beginning to see the light and beginning to get a little C-ish
(e.g., 0 based arrays).
Now, if they'd just give us NULL, have strings as arrays of characters, and
have include
files, I think we'll be ok. (Damn, I'm gonna get flamed for sure!)
todd
"J�rg Schliwa" <joerg.schliwa@ewetel.net> wrote in message
news:8odtlk$1ac$1@ac1.ewetel.de...
> Hi,
>
> I've a general question about the origin of IDL, becourse someone told me
> that IDL is a "procedure"-programming language that is based on a language
> like C/C++ or Fortran.
>
> So, is IDL an unique language or is it developed from another??
>
> I suppose all the specialists in this newsgroup will know that.
>
> Thanks for any hints,
>
> J�rg
>
>
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| Re: Origin of IDL [message #21574 is a reply to message #21436] |
Tue, 29 August 2000 21:38 |
Joseph B. Gurman
Messages: 31
Registered: April 2000
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Member |
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In article <MPG.14142c9b23fb9527989c03@news.frii.com>,
davidf@dfanning.com (David Fanning) wrote:
> David Fanning (davidf@dfanning.com) writes:
>
>> J�rg Schliwa (joerg.schliwa@ewetel.net) writes:
>>
>>> So, is IDL an unique language or is it developed from another??
>>
>> IDL is based on FORTRAN. Or, wait a minute, maybe it was
>> BASIC. No, I remember now, it was definitely APL. Or,
>> something like that. :-)
>
> Let's just say if you work with it for a while, it *seems*
> like a really unique language. :-)
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
Lo, in the beginning there was darkness, and David Stern said, "Let
there be AE." And David knew PL/1 and APL and FORTRAN, and he looked
upon AE and saw that it was good. And there was morning and there was
evening on the first day.
On the second day, David Stern said, "Let there be SOL." And lo, it
too, was terribly cool.
On the third day, David Stern said, "Let there be IDL." As to
whether it is gnarly, there is a Usenet group to decide thereof.
****
AE was used originally to analyze data from an Atmospheric Explorer
satellite, and SOL, to analyze data from Orbiting Solar Observatory 8
(c. 1975). David Stern developed both while working for the Laboratory
for Atmospheres and Space Physics at the University of Colorado. He then
got the enterpreneurial itch, and formed RSI. The first version of IDL I
saw (for RSX-11 on PDP-11's) was in late 1979. It had a lot in common
with SOL.
If anyone knows the prehistory of AE, we can probably regard it as
apocryphal and write reams of commentary on it.
Joe Gurman
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