Re: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ?
Original Message Subject: Re: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ? Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 04:42:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Dennis E. Slice dsl...@morphometrics.org To: morphmet@morphometrics.org References: 49d49be7.2090...@morphometrics.org Matlab is certainly a good choice for folks with a little money. For instance, I dropped in on a presentation by the Avizo/Amira folks yesterday (http://www.tgs.com/products/avizo.asp), which is a very nice, but pricey, package, and they provide direct links to/from Matlab. Also, I recall that when working with engineers, they really like Matlab for its signal- and image-processing features. If you primarily want to get some thing done, then the choice comes down to which does what you need to do. My interest is more towards helping as many people as possible get their things done, so I focus on cross-platform, (semi)open-source solutions. I don't believe it is the case with Matlab, but in the past I have too often surrendered significant personal or research funds to a company only to have them disappear after I have committed myself to their product - e.g., the old Morpheus. Some years ago, it was unclear to me whether or not the investment in learning R was worthwhile. That is not an issue today. Yes, it is worth it. I advise my students now that if they can't easily do what they want to in Java or R, then they probably shouldn't be doing it without professional programming help. Ciao, ds morphmet wrote: Original Message Subject: Re: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ? Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2009 14:26:49 -0700 (PDT) From: G. Alex Janevski galex...@umich.edu To: morphmet@morphometrics.org References: 49d3652c.1070...@morphometrics.org I second most of what Matt said. I would also argue that R has a fairly steep learning curve for a programming or statistics novice. I don't know how that compares to what would be faced using MatLab. However, once you get past the learning curve, the benefits of R are extraordinary. As others have commented, R is free and multi-platform. This means anyone can use it at any time, including poor students and researchers. Also, it's a fairly small piece of software, given what it does. It doesn't require add-ons, though packages are available to do almost everything imaginable. In fact, if I have one major complaint, it's that I've often done things by hand before realizing someone else had already created a package with a function that did it better and faster than I could (thoroughly searching the archives is a must). R is structured to encourage users to contribute their work in the form of packages. This is really useful for a research community. If someone on this list develops a great morphometrics package and puts it on the R site, it's readily available for everyone else to use, and, arguably more importantly, to modify. Also, the graphics capabilities are outstanding. I don't know whether that also applies to MatLab, but it's a nice part of R. morphmet wrote: Original Message Subject: Re: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ? Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:50:46 -0700 (PDT) From: Matthew Burton-Kelly matthew.burtonke...@gmail.com To: morphmet@morphometrics.org References: 49d1f872.6090...@morphometrics.org Considering I've never used Matlab, I have little to contribute to that particular question. Using R, however, has highlighted some particular weaknesses in my understanding of mathematics and statistics, so I think it has helped me get ahold of theory a little better because you have to think everything out first. I like R because it is open-source and because it has a programming- like interface, but having never taken a modern programming course, some of the data types completely baffle me, so I end up doing things the long way round. Matt -- Dennis E. Slice Associate Professor Dept. of Scientific Computing Florida State University Dirac Science Library Tallahassee, FL 32306-4120 - Guest Professor Department of Anthropology University of Vienna -- Replies will be sent to the list. For more information visit http://www.morphometrics.org
[Fwd: Re: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ?]
Original Message Subject: Re: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ? Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:06:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Dennis E. Slice dsl...@morphometrics.org To: morphmet@morphometrics.org References: 49d0cdf4.9040...@morphometrics.org My preference is for quality, cross-platform, open-source software. R fills that bill nicely and does everything I need to do that is not already available in morphometrics software. Also, I use it to check my own computations. A lot of knowledgeable people like Matlab, too. -dslice morphmet wrote: Original Message Subject: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ? Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 08:55:59 -0700 (PDT) From: Dany Adams dany.ad...@tufts.edu To: morphmet@morphometrics.org I have been chosen to become the morphometrics expert in my lab. I am already the statistics person (by no means an expert, though). I was looking into learning R as a way to do both more effectively. It seems to be the future of statistics, plus I have an expert in my family. However, the other PI in my lab is interested in having me learn MatLab, since [1] we already use it for other things, [2] it is site licensed at my University, [3] the company, and therefore technical help, is nearby, [4] and he feels it is intuitive in a way that will help me teach others. Is there a morphometrics reason to choose one over the other ? I am assuming that whatever peripherals I will need to buy are the same, so the question is about quality, ease of use, learning curve, and anything else that would be of use to know. Thank you all very much. Dany Adams -- Dennis E. Slice Associate Professor Dept. of Scientific Computing Florida State University Dirac Science Library Tallahassee, FL 32306-4120 - Guest Professor Department of Anthropology University of Vienna -- Replies will be sent to the list. For more information visit http://www.morphometrics.org
AW: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ?
Original Message Subject: AW: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ? Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:57:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Fränzi Korner fraenzi.kor...@bluewin.ch To: morphmet@morphometrics.org References: 49d0cdf4.9040...@morphometrics.org I have bought the very cheap student version of MatLab some (many, ca. 10!) years ago, and I could not use it because the student version does only a part of what the normal version of MatLab does. I do not know whether this is still like that. If the student version is still a strongly reduced version of MatLab, students that do not stay at your institute for their life might be happier with knowledge in R than in MatLab. Fränzi -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: morphmet [mailto:morphmet_modera...@morphometrics.org] Gesendet: Montag, 30. März 2009 15:50 An: morphmet Betreff: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ? Original Message Subject: Beginner's choice: R or MatLab ? Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 08:55:59 -0700 (PDT) From: Dany Adams dany.ad...@tufts.edu To: morphmet@morphometrics.org I have been chosen to become the morphometrics expert in my lab. I am already the statistics person (by no means an expert, though). I was looking into learning R as a way to do both more effectively. It seems to be the future of statistics, plus I have an expert in my family. However, the other PI in my lab is interested in having me learn MatLab, since [1] we already use it for other things, [2] it is site licensed at my University, [3] the company, and therefore technical help, is nearby, [4] and he feels it is intuitive in a way that will help me teach others. Is there a morphometrics reason to choose one over the other ? I am assuming that whatever peripherals I will need to buy are the same, so the question is about quality, ease of use, learning curve, and anything else that would be of use to know. Thank you all very much. Dany Adams -- Dany Spencer Adams, Ph.D. Associate Research Professor Tufts University Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology T (617)627-6204 F (617)627-5305 dany.ad...@tufts.edu -- Replies will be sent to the list. For more information visit http://www.morphometrics.org -- Replies will be sent to the list. For more information visit http://www.morphometrics.org