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    Re: Request for computer help.
    From: Nels Tomlinson
    Date: 2005 Sep 6, 13:38 -0800

    George, I see that someone has recommended Python, and that's probably
    a good choice.  One that I like better is R, available from
    http://cran.r-project.org .  Like Python and Quickbasic, it is an
    interpreted language, which means that you can type in 1+2 and get 3,
    or try a fragment of a program to see if it really does what you want.
    
    One of R's strong points is an excellent, active, helpful user
    community with a focus on statistical and scientific programming.  The
    scientific focus seems to me to be a bit different than the Python
    community, which seems to have strong roots in systems programming.
    If you need help on solving a technical problem, you'll likely be able
    to get it from the R mailing lists.  I don't make much use of Python,
    and the situation there may be far better than I know, but I haven't
    found anything comparable there yet.
    
    This next isn't really a serious suggestion, since I don't think you
    want to spend a lot of time climbing a new learning curve, but: if you
    want to change the way you think, try Lisp or Scheme.
    
    I'd advise against C, C++, or any of the other languages used by
    systems programmers.  They're good for what they're good for, but what
    they're good for isn't what you want to do!  You want to implement an
    algorithm, not an operating system.  I'd advise against any language
    which requires a compiler (Lisp has a compiler, but doesn't require
    it), but if you must use a compiled language, use Fortran.  F77, with
    complex numbers as a native data type, has some good points.
    
    GNUPlot is good, and will do things that nothing else will, but R may
    be better for making usable graphs easily, and publication-quality
    graphs with little extra effort.
    
    Hope this helps,
    Nels
    
    
    
    On 9/6/05, george huxtable  wrote:
    > My sympathy goes to those deep-South Americans who have had to suffer first
    > a natural disaster and then ineptitude of the rescue; not what one would
    > expect in the richest country in the world. Perhaps list-members are now
    > prepared to turn their attention back to our own, more trivial, concerns.
    >
    > ================================
    >
    > Some recent postings on Nav-l have included listings of programs. This has
    > prompted me to ask for suggestions from list members about suitable
    > programs for doing simple calculations on a home computer. Not really a
    > navigation question at all, it's true... But I suspect that others have had
    > to face the same problems that face me.
    >
    > Forty-odd years ago, I had some exposure to Fortran on a mainframe. Since
    > then, all my programming has been done using some dialect of Basic, on
    > programmable calculators or computers. I'm not really a "programmer", in
    > any real sense of the word, and writing programs is no more than a means to
    > an end. What I enjoy is solving technical problems, and a computer is a
    > necessary tool for that job.
    >
    > My favourite version of Basic was the old QuickBasic as supplied with PC's,
    > years ago, when even home computers were actually expected to do some
    > computing. You could label the lines when needed, rather than having to
    > number them, and there were no restrictions on "go to" instructions, which
    > seem to be regarded now in many quarters as particularly naughty. What's
    > more, it had a superb manual.
    >
    > On my Mac, I used TrueBasic, which I rather disliked for the converse
    > reasons; it imposed disciplines which irked me.
    >
    > I've recently migrated from an old Mac to a laptop running Windows XP. My
    > new machine appears to offer no built-in programming (unless there's
    > something hidden away that I haven't discovered yet).  This computer can do
    > almost anything, except actually compute! So I need to find something, to
    > do mostly mathematics (all the trig functions), to double precision, some
    > statistics, and ideally with the ability to draw a bit of graphics as well.
    > It doesn't have to be free software (though that's my preference) and there
    > MUST be a decent printed manual available; I detest having to rely on
    > on-line "help". I'd rather pay real money for the manual than for the software.
    >
    > Exploring around, I've picked up a copy of C++, which I haven't tried; just
    > reading the manual was enough to convince me that all the guff about
    > object-oriented programming was not for me. Was that the right decision?
    > I'm quite prepared to learn a new language, even at my advanced age, if
    > it's worthwhile doing so, but not if it's going to fade out and force me
    > into learning yet another new language later on. More relevant, the manual
    > I picked up, "C++ for Dummies", made no mention at all of any trig functions.
    >
    > My preference would be to find a version of Basic. Visual Basic seems, at a
    > first glance, to be over-complex for my needs, and rather expensive. Is
    > there something simpler out there?
    >
    > It's likely that others on Nav-l have been faced with the same problem, and
    > can give a bit of advice about their own favourite software.
    >
    > George.
    > ===============================================================
    > Contact George at george@huxtable.u-net.com ,or by phone +44 1865 820222,
    > or from within UK 01865 820222.
    > Or by post- George Huxtable, 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13
    > 5HX, UK.
    >
    
    
    

       
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