Chris Dallimore (WS Atkins)

• Produced by Research Systems, Inc. Based in Colorado
  
  
• Developed for data analysis, visualization, and cross-platform application development
  
  
• Suited to image processing and 3D visualization
  
  
• Allows rapid application development
  
  
• Two graphics display types
  
  
  • Direct Graphics
    Quick and Dirty
    Draws direct to graphics device
    
    
  • Object Graphics
    Takes advantage of OpenGL
    Graphics are rendered as true, 3-dimensional objects that persist in memory
    Allows user to interact with visualizations
  
  
• GUI Builder
  • Point and Click interface developer
  • Clunky, produces ugly code.
  
  
• IDE
  • Simple to use
  • Text Editor can be a bit frustrating
  
  
• Syntax is similar to Fortran
  
  
• Has Libraries for standard file formats such as NetCDF and HDF
  
  
• Requires a runtime license for each user
  
  
• Linking to Fortran is OS/Compiler specific
  
  
• Other options include Matlab, Python, Java