| Students in undergraduate science and engineering programs typically take one semester of computer programming, often using Fortran or C or, more recently, Java or C++. Although these languages are all used to write scientific software, in one or two semesters it is difficult for students to develop the skills needed to write useful programs. Students who go on to graduate school are frequently unprepared to begin writing, or even using, scientific software.
Interactive Data Language (IDL) is a high-level language designed specifically for scientific programming and data analysis. In addition to a complete set of basic programming tools (numerical types, strings, arrays, structures, pointers, etc.), it includes a wide range of graphical functions and device drivers. A major advantage of IDL compared to traditional programming languages is that beginners can begin writing programs and plotting graphs after only a few hours of use. Although not covered in this book, IDL also makes it easy to create programs with point-and-click graphical user interfaces and to develop programs using an object-oriented style. IDL is available on Microsoft Windows and Unix-derived operating systems, including popular commercial versions of Unix, Linux, and Apple’s Mac OS X. With a little planning, IDL programs can be moved easily between platforms.
This book is intended to be used in an introductory computer programming course for science and engineering students at either the undergraduate or graduate level. Students can learn IDL quickly enough that it can be taught as part of a topical course, either as a separate “lab” section or as an integral part of the course. It does not assume that students have experience with another programming language, although occasional comparisons are made with Fortran or C to help students who are familiar with those languages adjust to IDL syntax and programming style. |
