PLATFORMS
Read the Below Descriptions
MATLAB (Intermediate)
MATLAB is a high-performance language for technical computing. It integrates computation, visualization, and programming in an easy-to-use environment where problems and solutions are expressed in familiar mathematical notation. Typical uses include:
- Math and computation
- Algorithm development
- Modeling, simulation, and prototyping
- Data analysis, exploration, and visualization
- Scientific and engineering graphics
- Application development, including Graphical User Interface building
MATLAB is an interactive system whose basic data element is an
array that does not require dimensioning. This allows you to solve many
technical computing problems, especially those with matrix and vector formulations,
in a fraction of the time it would take to write a program in a scalar
noninteractive language such as C or Fortran.
The name MATLAB stands for matrix laboratory. MATLAB was originally
written to provide easy access to matrix software developed by the LINPACK and
EISPACK projects, which together represent the state-of-the-art in software for
matrix computation.
MATLAB has evolved over a period of years with input from many
users. In university environments, it is the standard instructional tool for
introductory and advanced courses in mathematics, engineering, and science. In
industry, MATLAB is the tool of choice for high-productivity research,
development, and analysis.
MATLAB features a family of application-specific solutions called toolboxes. Very important to most users of MATLAB, toolboxes allow you to learn and apply specialized technology. Toolboxes are comprehensive collections of MATLAB functions (M-files) that extend the MATLAB environment to solve particular classes of problems. Areas in which toolboxes are available include signal processing, control systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic, wavelets, simulation, and many others.
Python (Basic)
Python is an
interpreted, object-oriented, high-level programming language with dynamic
semantics. Its high-level built in data structures, combined with dynamic
typing and dynamic binding, make it very attractive for Rapid Application
Development, as well as for use as a scripting or glue language to connect
existing components together. Python's simple, easy to learn syntax emphasizes
readability and therefore reduces the cost of program maintenance. Python
supports modules and packages, which encourages program modularity and code
reuse. The Python interpreter and the extensive standard library are available
in source or binary form without charge for all major platforms, and can be
freely distributed.
Often, programmers fall in love with Python because of the increased productivity it provides. Since there is no compilation step, the edit-test-debug cycle is incredibly fast. Debugging Python programs is easy: a bug or bad input will never cause a segmentation fault. Instead, when the interpreter discovers an error, it raises an exception. When the program doesn't catch the exception, the interpreter prints a stack trace. A source level debugger allows inspection of local and global variables, evaluation of arbitrary expressions, setting breakpoints, stepping through the code a line at a time, and so on. The debugger is written in Python itself, testifying to Python's introspective power. On the other hand, often the quickest way to debug a program is to add a few print statements to the source: the fast edit-test-debug cycle makes this simple approach very effective.
FORTRAN (Basic)
FORTRAN, in full Formula Translation, computer-programming
language created in 1957 by John Backus that shortened the process of
programming and made computer programming more accessible. The creation of
FORTRAN, which debuted in 1957, marked a significant stage in the development
of computer-programming languages. Previous programming was written in machine (first-generation)
language or assembly (second-generation) language, which required the
programmer to write instructions in binary or hexadecimal arithmetic.
Frustration with the arduous nature of such programming led Backus to
search for a simpler, more accessible way to communicate with computers. During
the three-year development stage, Backus led an eclectic team of 10
International Business Machines (IBM) employees to create a language that
combined a form of English shorthand with algebraic equations.
FORTRAN enabled
the rapid writing of computer programs that ran nearly as efficiently as
programs that had been laboriously hand coded in machine language. As
computers were rare and extremely expensive, inefficient programs were a
greater financial problem than the lengthy and painstaking development of
machine-language programs. With the creation of an efficient higher-level (or
natural) language, also known as a third-generation language, computer
programming moved beyond a small coterie to include engineers and scientists,
who were instrumental in expanding the use of computers.
Revision of the
language led to FORTRAN 77, the language we use today. The standard for FORTRAN
90 is now available although not yet in widespread use. F77 is a subset of F90.
FORTRAN was designed for scientists and engineers, and has dominated this
field. For the past 30 years FORTRAN has been used for such projects as the
design of bridges and aero plane structures, it is used for factory automation
control, for storm drainage design, analysis of scientific data and so on. Throughout
the life of this language, groups of users have written libraries of useful
standard FORTRAN programs. These programs can be borrowed and used by other
people who wish to take advantage of the expertise and experience of the
authors, in a similar way in which a book is borrowed from a library.
The individual
user may wish to build up their own library of routines they often use.