| Re: General info question for newbie [message #26824] |
Mon, 01 October 2001 14:43  |
bumblebelly75
Messages: 2
Registered: October 2001
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Junior Member |
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Many thanks for your comments
My manager spotted an advert for IDL in New Scientist and thought it
might be of use for our projects, so she wanted me to assess its
suitability before splashing out �900 for it!
Cheers for your help guys,
Chris
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| Re: General info question for newbie [message #26826 is a reply to message #26825] |
Mon, 01 October 2001 11:03  |
Paul van Delst
Messages: 364
Registered: March 1997
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Senior Member |
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Chris wrote:
>
> Just a quick question:
>
> Having dl'd the IDL 5.4 demo and played around a bit, I wondered how
> this would help me in a GIS environment and what advantages it would
> hold over a regular programming language?
Well, that depends on what you want to do. (And, btw, why don't you consider IDL a "regular
programming language"?) Also, if no else in your field and/or department/job/whatever is using
IDL, it's probably not a good choice - unless you're the type of fellow who will eventually
convince a goodly proportion of people you work with that IDL is the ant's pants and they
should use it. (I have seen that happen.)
> The opinion seems to be that
> there is less coding involved,
In IDL? Less coding? My experience is indifferent in this respect. E.g. in my IDL
functions/procedure I have the check the correct dimensionality of the arguments as well as
size since there is no type decalrations as such in IDL. In F90, for example, I know the input
array dimensions are correct (otherwise the code wouldn't compile), I just have to check the
sizes.
When it comes to (direct) graphics, there's no question that IDL involves less coding. Can't
get much simpler than:
IDL> PLOT, x, y
Also, a big plus/speedup for me in using IDL is (apart from the graphics) the command line. I
can easily test code without having to write a test program.
> And how hard is it
> to learn what is essentially a new language?
Not essentially - it IS a new language. With a bunch of neato features and associated
idiosyncracies just like any other programming language/environment. I get the distinct
impression you think of IDL only a few lines above "toy" on the "Neat Things to do with your
Computer" list.
As to learning curve - well, that depends on how keen you are. :o)
paulv
--
Paul van Delst Religious and cultural
CIMSS @ NOAA/NCEP purity is a fundamentalist
Ph: (301)763-8000 x7274 fantasy
Fax:(301)763-8545 V.S.Naipaul
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| Re: General info question for newbie [message #26827 is a reply to message #26826] |
Mon, 01 October 2001 10:56 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Chris (bumblebelly75@hotmail.com) writes:
> Having dl'd the IDL 5.4 demo and played around a bit, I wondered how
> this would help me in a GIS environment and what advantages it would
> hold over a regular programming language?
IDL and a GIS environment are two mostly different things,
it seems to me, with the occasional overlap. If you are
a GIS type person, the advantages of IDL would be
(I should think) to expand your notions of how data might
be used to create information. And specifically, how
remotely sensed data might be used to create information.
> The opinion seems to be that
> there is less coding involved, but how much less?
Compared to what? To C programming? A lot less.
To Visual Basic programming? Not so much less.
> And how hard is it
> to learn what is essentially a new language?
Any new language is hard to learn. How long would
it take you to learn Spanish? If you were moving
to Spain in three months and your livelihood depended
on speaking the language, you might learn it faster
than if you just wanted to whisper romantic poems
by Pablo Neruda in your sweetheart's ear in Pablo's
native language. I've been working with IDL for 12+
years. I'm still learning it. :-)
Cheers,
David
--
David W. Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
Phone: 970-221-0438, E-mail: david@dfanning.com
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Toll-Free IDL Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155
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| Re: General info question for newbie [message #26923 is a reply to message #26824] |
Mon, 01 October 2001 14:47 |
Pavel A. Romashkin
Messages: 531
Registered: November 2000
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Senior Member |
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Chris wrote:
>
> Many thanks for your comments
> My manager spotted an advert for IDL in New Scientist and thought it
> might be of use for our projects, so she wanted me to assess its
> suitability before splashing out �900 for it!
Oh, absolutely, it'll be worth every penny. And, to help you get
started, there is a company called Fanning Consulting
(http://www.dfanning.com/) that will bring you right up to speed almost
for free (on those price scales) :-)
Cheers,
Pavel
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