PDL is a data language software for Perl that provides numerical analysis tools for processing data.
One of PDL's main features is the ability to write simple Perl expressions that can manipulate entire numerical arrays all at once. For example, with PDL, users can create a Perl variable like $a that holds a 1024x1024 floating-point image. This image only takes up 4MB of memory, and expressions like $a=sqrt($a)+2 can manipulate the entire image in just a few milliseconds, making it extremely time efficient.
PDL also comes with a simple interactive shell (perdl), which users can use from the command line, and a module (PDL) that they can integrate into Perl scripts. The PDL distribution for Perl is free software, and it provides extensive numerical and semi-numerical functionality, with support for two- and three-dimensional visualization as well as a variety of I/O formats.
With PDL, users can easily interact with a variety of external numerical packages, graphics, and visualization systems. The software is designed to make interfacing with these systems as easy as possible, which is one of the core design features of PDL.
To use PDL, users must have Perl 5.005 or later and File::Spec 0.6 or later installed. The most recent release of PDL includes many bug fixes, improved support for 64-bit systems and Cygwin, better bad-value handling, and better CPAN compatibility. Overall, PDL is a must-have tool for researchers and scientists using Perl for numerical processing.
Version 2.4.3: N/A