My presentation to the comples sytems workgroup on picking programming packages.

1. Principles and practices for
picking powerful programming
platforms, packages, and plugins
Abe Gong
CSAAW
Jan 2012

2. Picking programming packages
Getting the right tools matters.

3. Picking programming packages
It matters a lot, but we never talk about it.

4. Picking programming packages
It is a decision we will each face many times.

5. Picking programming packages
It's a lot like another decision we often face...
"What should I wear to the thing?”

6. What should I wear to the thing?
Clothing Software
Accesorizes well Does it work with other software
and tools that you use? Is it
extensible?
Matches others Is it a popular package? Are
there active forums to get help
and updates?
Comfortable Is it well-documented and easy
to debug?
Reasonably priced It is open source? Does the
University already have
licenses?
Fits the occasion Does it do what you want it to
do? Really?

7. Tools I use
 Python – Data acquisition and manipulation
 R, RStudio, and ggplot – Statistics, data
visualization
 Hadoop – Really big data crunching
 Django – Server-side web development
 HTML, CSS, Javascript, jquery – Client-side
web development
 Protovis – Client-side data visualization

8. Tools I would think about using
 D3 – A souped-up replacement for protovis
 Ruby on Rails – More popular alternative to
Django. Doesn't use python, though.
 Repast – ABMs with python support
 PANDAS – A python-based replacement for R?

9. Tools I would never use
 Java – A perfectly decent programming
language, but it does nothing that C++ and
python can't do better.
 PERL – Like python, but not for humans.
 NetLogo – A horrible, legacy language that is
difficult to understand and almost impossible to
debug. In exchange for sliders, NetLogo will
give you bad habits and make you afraid of
programming.

10. Other links and sources
Picking programming languages:
 http://www.tundraware.com/Technology/How-To-Pick-A-Programming-Language/
 http://www.awaretek.com/atesterea.html
 http://newbiehacker.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/how-to-choose-a-programming-la
 http://blog.aegisub.org/2008/12/if-programming-languages-were-religions.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_agent-based_modeling_software
 Kinda random:
 http://www.inc.com/guides/choosing-accounting-software.html
 http://www.mb-guide.org/medical-billing-and-coding-software.html
 http://www.qualitydigest.com/july01/html/gauging.html
 http://3d.about.com/od/A-Guide-To-3D-Software/a/Buyers-Guide-To-3d-Software.
 http://www.lingualogue.com/language-software-reviews.html

11. Picking powerful programming
platforms...
>> Python
 Powerful
 Flexible
 << Extensible
 Very popular
 Very free