| Re: IDL_IDLBridge and the virtual machine [message #83631 is a reply to message #83528] |
Fri, 15 March 2013 11:38   |
Michael Galloy
Messages: 1114
Registered: April 2006
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Senior Member |
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On 3/14/13 5:59 PM, superchromix wrote:
> On Mar 14, 5:16 pm, Michael Galloy <mgal...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Well, the VM is free, so it might be a lot to expect to be able to
>> compile code from it as well (although the thread pool is available in
>> the VM, so you automatically use multiple cores for supported
>> operations). Also, remember that runtime licenses are cheaper than
>> development licenses and can perform EXECUTE.
>>
>> Mike
>
> hi Mike,
>
> I think you misread my point. I'm not concerned with the VM being
> able to compile code. What I want to do is use IDL to run multi-
> threaded analysis on a multi-core CPU. I am running cpu-intensive
> analysis algorithms within stand-alone IDL applications which run in
> the VM, and I need a way to make full use of the processing power of
> the CPU.
>
> I don't think this is a lot to expect from a modern programming
> language. I purchase IDL licenses for development work, using the
> full IDE, etc, and on-the-fly data analysis. The stand-alone
> applications I write are freely distributed to my scientific
> collaborators, and there is no possibility of purchasing a license for
> each and every copy of the distributed stand-alone code. If the free
> distribution of stand-alone applications is no longer part of the IDL
> business model, then I guess I should be switching to matlab or
> python.
I agree that technologies for parallelization on multi-core and GPU are
going to be increasingly important for IDL (single cores aren't getting
any faster). But with their current model, multi-core solutions (besides
the thread pool) bump up against their licensing model for distributing
code. I think the VM shows they want to support free distribution of
applications, but it's unclear to me on how to change the VM
limitations/licensing exactly that would accomplish this. Also, the
average IDL user is probably benefited more by the thread pool since
they don't have to even know it exists to get benefits from multi-core.
Mike
--
Michael Galloy
www.michaelgalloy.com
Modern IDL: A Guide to IDL Programming (http://modernidl.idldev.com)
Research Mathematician
Tech-X Corporation
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