| Re: IDL or PV-WAVE? [message #96 is a reply to message #95] |
Thu, 20 June 1991 11:37   |
paul
Messages: 22
Registered: June 1991
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Junior Member |
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> Which should we buy? Presumably PV-WAVE has more features, but are
> they worth more money? Since they can now diverge, which would you bet
> on long term?
> Thanks.
> Brian
It is amusing that this excellent question should have prompted the
first flame throwing contest in this group.
As a long time IDL user, I agree completely with the eloquent statement
of Dr. Landsman. Unfortunately, nobody in this group seems to have had
sufficient experience with both IDL and PV-WAVE necessary to make a valid
comparison. My experience with the new divergent PV-WAVE is limited to
a single, two-hour hands-on demonstration of the product that was conducted
by the PV-WAVE president himself. I offer this poor comparison in hopes
that someone better informed than myself will follow-up with greater
insight and correct my mistakes.
PV-WAVE is becoming two products. The older product is the established
IDL-like plotting package, graphics package, and scientific language.
The newer product is a Mac-like point-&-click package. Both the older
product and the newer product run the IDL kernel. The newer product
gives the user most of the capability of PV-WAVE, but without having to
write a line of code. Everything from reading data in to graphic display
is run with a point-&-click set of menu options. I was surprised by
the flexibility of this package to manipulate and process data. The
graphics were excellent, as one would expect.
If you buy the point-&-click package, you do not get the standard language.
As good as it is, there is no way the point-&-click package can be as
flexible as the standard IDL/PV-WAVE language. The point-&-click package
is therefore aimed at people who do not want to write code, but want more
flexibility than standard reduction packages offer. It remains to be seen
how large a market this product will generate.
I enjoy both the simplicity and the flexibility of the IDL language, so
I am prepared to become an old timer who still writes code.
paul
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