Re: IDL/Wave alternatives

["J.D. Smith" <jdsmith(at)astro.cornell.edu>]

aaron@boofura.swcp.com wrote:
> 
> I am looking for an IDL, PV-Wave, MatLab, -like product,
> free and open source.
> 
> Does anybody know of any suggestions?
> 
> I have run into scilab, which seems to be the front-runner to me.
> I once saw a graphing package mentioned in LINUX journal, from
> one of the USA National labs... but it seemed too minimal.
> 
> I'm looking for something to do image processing.
> Writing new algorithms.
> If it has a nice interpreted command language, and open arhitecture,
> I'm willing to add c-modules to do things like import/export of
> various file formats.
> 
> I just want to get images into data arrays that I can then play with.
> 
> Thanks for any help....  including pointers to FAQ's.

You might take a look at http://pdl.perl.org/.  I haven't used the
software myself, but have taken a close look.  Certainly less polished
than IDL, but there are so many resources to draw on from within Perl
(e.g. TK widgets, PGPLOT, compatibility with all kinds of file formats,
etc.), that things get interesting.  And if you're willing to get your
hands dirty there is an active developers group.

JD

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