In today’s information age, scientists and engineers must quickly and efficiently analyze extremely large sets of data. One of the best tools to accomplish this is Interactive Data Language (IDL®), a programming and visualization environment that facilitates numerical modeling, data analysis, and image processing. IDL’s high-level language and powerful graphics capabilities allow users to write more flexible programs much faster than is possible with other programming languages. An Introduction to Programming with IDL enables students new to programming, as well as those with experience in other programming languages, to rapidly harness IDL’s capabilities: fast, interactive performance; array syntax; dynamic data typing; and built-in graphics. Each concept is illustrated with sample code, including many complete short programs. Margin notes throughout the text quickly point readers to the relevant sections of IDL manuals End-of-chapter summaries and exercises help reinforce learning Students who purchase the book are eligible for a substantial discount on a student version of the IDL software

1 : Introduction -- 2 : Fundamentals of IDL Syntax -- 3 : Writing IDL Programs -- 4 : Input and Output -- 5 : Direct Graphics -- 6 : Plotting Data -- 7 : Displaying Images -- 8 : Creating Graphical Output -- 9 : Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) -- Appendix A : IDL on the Internet -- Appendix B : Mathematical Routines -- Appendix C : Widget Event Structures -- Appendix D : Widget Properties -- Appendix E : Graphics Device Properties.

Increasingly, scientists and engineers must quickly and efficiently analyze and visualize extremely large sets of data. Interactive Data Language, IDL, was designed to address just this need. A popular data analysis and visualization programming environment, IDL is used worldwide by scientists and engineers in fields as diverse as the physical sciences, medical physics, and engineering test and analysis. In Practical IDL Programming, Liam E. Gumley provides a solid foundation in the fundamentals of procedural programming in IDL. He presents concise information on how to develop IDL programmers that are well structured, reliable, and efficient. The example programs in the book demonstrate key concepts and provide functionality that can be applied immediately. In addition, the book offers readers practical tips and advice on IDL programming, which they would otherwise discover only after years of experience. While only modest prior programming experience is assumed, readers with experience in any procedural language will quickly translate their skills to IDL, learning the best programming practices for this new environment. Scientists, engineers, and students in educational, government, and commercial research and development environments will all appreciate the author's guidance in helping them effectively analyze and visualize data. * Presents a comprehensive and detailed treatment of IDL data types, operators, expressions, array operations, input and output, direct graphics, plotting and imaging, publication quality output, and graphical user interfaces.* Designed for novices and experienced IDL users and programmers alike.* Provides an accompanying Web site with downloadable versions of all IDL programs in the book and a link to downloadable demonstration versions of the IDL software.

Modern IDL is an opinionated guide to using IDL, including information about recent versions of IDL, advanced topics, and best practices. Modern IDL is also a useful reference guide for both beginners and advanced users, collecting tables and lists of items that are scattered through the online help.

Here is the CORBA book that every C++ software engineer has been waiting for. Advanced CORBA® Programming with C++ provides designers and developers with the tools required to understand CORBA technology at the architectural, design, and source code levels. This book offers hands-on explanations for building efficient applications, as well as lucid examples that provide practical advice on avoiding costly mistakes. With this book as a guide, programmers will find the support they need to successfully undertake industrial-strength CORBA development projects. The content is systematically arranged and presented so the book may be used as both a tutorial and a reference. The rich example programs in this definitive text show CORBA developers how to write clearer code that is more maintainable, portable, and efficient. The authors' detailed coverage of the IDL-to-C++ mapping moves beyond the mechanics of the APIs to discuss topics such as potential pitfalls and efficiency. An in-depth presentation of the new Portable Object Adapter (POA) explains how to take advantage of its numerous features to create scalable and high-performance servers. In addition, detailed discussion of advanced topics, such as garbage collection and multithreading, provides developers with the knowledge they need to write commercial applications. Other highlights In-depth coverage of IDL, including common idioms and design trade-offs Complete and detailed explanations of the Life Cycle, Naming, Trading, and Event Services Discussion of IIOP and implementation repositories Insight into the dynamic aspects of CORBA, such as dynamic typing and the new DynAny interfaces Advice on selecting appropriate application architectures and designs Detailed, portable, and vendor-independent source code

Designed for undergraduates, An Introduction to High-Performance Scientific Computing assumes a basic knowledge of numerical computation and proficiency in Fortran or C programming and can be used in any science, computer science, applied mathematics, or engineering department or by practicing scientists and engineers, especially those associated with one of the national laboratories or supercomputer centers. This text evolved from a new curriculum in scientific computing that was developed to teach undergraduate science and engineering majors how to use high-performance computing systems (supercomputers) in scientific and engineering applications. Designed for undergraduates, An Introduction to High-Performance Scientific Computing assumes a basic knowledge of numerical computation and proficiency in Fortran or C programming and can be used in any science, computer science, applied mathematics, or engineering department or by practicing scientists and engineers, especially those associated with one of the national laboratories or supercomputer centers. The authors begin with a survey of scientific computing and then provide a review of background (numerical analysis, IEEE arithmetic, Unix, Fortran) and tools (elements of MATLAB, IDL, AVS). Next, full coverage is given to scientific visualization and to the architectures (scientific workstations and vector and parallel supercomputers) and performance evaluation needed to solve large-scale problems. The concluding section on applications includes three problems (molecular dynamics, advection, and computerized tomography) that illustrate the challenge of solving problems on a variety of computer architectures as well as the suitability of a particular architecture to solving a particular problem. Finally, since this can only be a hands-on course with extensive programming and experimentation with a variety of architectures and programming paradigms, the authors have provided a laboratory manual and supporting software via anonymous ftp. Scientific and Engineering Computation series

This book offers IDL programmers one place to look for beginners and advanced users alike. Modern IDL is also a useful reference guide, collecting tables and lists of items that are scattered through the online help.