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Re: Sacrilegious but genuine question [message #28754 is a reply to message #28740]

Tue, 08 January 2002 11:38

Craig Markwardt
Messages: 1869
Registered: November 1996

Senior Member

"Liam E. Gumley" <Liam.Gumley@ssec.wisc.edu> writes:

> Francis Burton wrote:
>> How easy would it be to obtain the functionality of IDL by
>> using Python as the underlying language glue, supplemented
>> by hard-coded modules for image, signal & file processing,
>> graphical I/O etc.? It seems that it can already do that in
>> some problem domains - e.g. Python Imaging Library.
>
> http://nickbower.com/computer/pydl is a first cut.
>
>> Put another way: What are the advantages of IDL compared to
>> such an open source framework?
>
> It depends on what your goal is.
>
> If your goal is to read, analyze, and visualize data for the purpose of
> earning a living or obtaining a degree, then I'd use IDL.
>
> If your goal is to have fun writing new code for which you don't get
> paid or earn any credits, then I'd roll your own open source solution in
> Python (if you can get someone to pay you for it, well done).

I've thought about this kind of question before too. I think there is
another question:

If your need is to use one of the many library functions written in
IDL, either already available in the IDL distribution, or available on
the internet, then use IDL. Use and compatibility of existing
libraries is a huge issue for me.

Craig

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Craig B. Markwardt, Ph.D. EMAIL: craigmnet@cow.physics.wisc.edu
Astrophysics, IDL, Finance, Derivatives | Remove "net" for better response
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[Message index]

		Re: Sacrilegious but genuine question By: Mark Fardal on Wed, 09 January 2002 13:45
		Re: Sacrilegious but genuine question By: Andy Loughe on Wed, 09 January 2002 12:06
		Re: Sacrilegious but genuine question By: Mark Fardal on Wed, 09 January 2002 11:51
		Re: Sacrilegious but genuine question By: Nigel Wade on Wed, 09 January 2002 02:28
		Re: Sacrilegious but genuine question By: Craig Markwardt on Tue, 08 January 2002 11:38
		Re: Sacrilegious but genuine question By: Liam E. Gumley on Tue, 08 January 2002 10:16
		Re: Sacrilegious but genuine question By: rmw092001 on Wed, 09 January 2002 18:55
		Re: Sacrilegious but genuine question By: Francis Burton on Thu, 10 January 2002 02:15

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