Struggling with S Plus? Consider alternative statistical software options.

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the use of S Plus for statistical analysis, with participants sharing their experiences and considering alternative software options such as R, Matlab, and others. The scope includes personal experiences, recommendations for statistical software, and comparisons between different tools in the context of statistics and mathematics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses difficulty with S Plus after several months of use and seeks input from others using the same software.
  • Another participant suggests that while S Plus is suitable for coursework, R is a better long-term choice due to its larger user base and resources available online.
  • A participant indicates a plan to transition to R after completing their course, noting the similarities between S Plus and R but also the uncertainty regarding code compatibility between the two.
  • There is a discussion about the potential use of Matlab, with one participant seeking opinions on its advantages and disadvantages for both mathematics and statistics.
  • A later reply emphasizes that no single software package is universally superior, highlighting the strengths of Matlab for numerical computations, Maple and Mathematica for symbolic mathematics, and the prevalence of R in statistical work.
  • Participants mention various software options, categorizing them into free and open-source software (FOSS) and commercial packages, and express a preference for FOSS once proficiency is achieved.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the best software package, with multiple competing views regarding the suitability of S Plus, R, Matlab, and other tools based on different fields and personal preferences.

Contextual Notes

The discussion reflects varying levels of familiarity with different software packages and the specific needs of users based on their fields of study or work. There are also unresolved questions about the compatibility of code between S Plus and R.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in statistical software options, particularly students and professionals in statistics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields.

mezza8
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I am using S Plus since it is the standard package for my course. I am finding it a bit clunky to use, still, after 6 months of on and off use. Does anyone else use S Plus?
 
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I think is not a bad choice for a course; the syntax of S is virtually identical to R, and R is the language I would deeply recommend you to learn if you are any serious about statistics. You can learn more about R in: http://www.r-project.org/
 
Yes, I think I will move to R after my course finishes. R has so many more users and most of the time when I google something for S-Plus the results are actually for R. The annoyance is that S-Plus is so similar that the techniques seem to mostly be the same but I can't guarantee code from R will run on S-Plus and vice-versa.

I currently have Maple as well and was looking at getting Matlab next year. It would be nice to use one package and language for both mathematics and statistics - any thoughts on why Matlab might be good/bad for both?
 
There is no one package to rule them all...

Matlab is virtually the standard among engineers and very good for numerical computations, Maple and also Mathematica compete in the symbolic mathematics arena and they both are quite good (in this case you need to figure out what field of mathematics you're interested into decide which package is better for you). Among people working in biostatistics SAS is also pretty much the standard in the industry but R is pretty much the standard among statisticians of any field...

So as you see, it depends on what field you are working and even the branch of that field. But anyway, my choice is:

FOSS

Statistics: R
Symbolic Math: Maxima
Numerical Math: Octave/Scilab

Commercial

Statistics: SAS, S-Plus, Statistica... Many others.
Symbolic Math: Mathematica/Maple
Numerical Math: Matlab

Though I find that once you are proficient with the FOSS packages you have no much use for the commercial ones and this is especially true for R.
 
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