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| -rw-r--r-- | software/idl.page | 33 |
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diff --git a/software/idl.page b/software/idl.page new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e961a71 --- /dev/null +++ b/software/idl.page @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +format: rst +categories: software +toc: yes +... + +================== +IDL +================== + +IDL is the "interactive data language", a clunky old propriatary numerical +analysis language still used by the astronomical community. + +Language Design +----------------- + +IDL is "pass by reference", which means that arguments to functions are always +variable pointers, not the actual value (the alternative is usually to pass by +copy, where the value gets passed through to a new variable inside the function.One side effect of this is that return values are collected by passing a +recieving variable name as an argument to functions. + +Syntax +----------------- + +Procedures are called with a comma seperated list-like syntax where the first +element is the procedure and the following elements are arguments. + +Command Interface +----------------- + +Instead of the ever-standard ``!`` to execute system commands, use ``$``. + + |