S-Plus Overview
S-Plus Program Functionality:
Breadth of functionality: Good
S-PLUS incorporates the object-oriented language S, developed at AT&T Bell Labs. S-PLUS handles all data, functions, and fitted models as objects, making data analysis much more flexible than is possible with an older, procedural language approach. The inherent flexibility of S-PLUS allows you to fit alternative models using both classical and modern methods.
Some of S-PLUS' capabilities include:
- Statistical Inference: One and Two Sample Problems
- Statistical Inference for Counts and Proportions
- Cross-Classified Data and Contingency Tables
- Regression and Smoothing
- Generalized Linear Model
- Local Regression Model
- Classification and Regression Trees
- Univariate and Multivariate ANOVA
- Principal Components Analysis
- Factor Analysis
- Cluster Analysis
- Time Series Analysis
- Survival Analysis
- Quality Control Charts
- Mathematical Computing
Reliability and Robustness: Excellent
There are few known bugs in S-PLUS at this point of time. Fixes for errors reported are immediately recommended and corrected in the succeeding release.
State of the Art: Excellent
S-PLUS is considered a the state of the art product for statistical computing from MathSoft, Inc. Some of its features are TRELLIS display graphics, hexagonal binning, and others.
User Friendliness: Good
S-PLUS' command syntax is very easy to use and simple to learn and use. Currently UITS Stat/Math Center is supporting S-Plus only under UNIX (Sun Solaris). S-PLUS does not have a graphical user-interface as yet, but is expected for future releases.
S-Plus Help Resources:
Network-based help: Good
While there is only limited help from the Knowledge Base (KB) maintained by the UITS Support Center, there are other network-based help available. The sales department for S-PLUS can be reached via e-mail (mktg@statsci.com) or phone (1-800-569-0123).
Program's Help System: Good
S-PLUS offers extensive online help in prompted session with all of the commands and options reviewable.
S-Plus Local Availability:
Currently S-PLUS is available on various UITS systems. For details, see the Statistics Software Availability. S-PLUS is also available from the vendor for Microsoft Windows environment.
UITS makes available S-PLUS for Windows for students (full blown version) at an educational discount price. Contact UITS Stat/Math Center for details (email: statmath@iu.edu phone 812/855-8007).
S-Plus Training and Support:
Document Availability: Fair
Complete S-PLUS documentation is available for reference at various Software Manual Locations. There are also electronic copies of the most recent S-PLUS documents available from MathSoft in PDF format at: www.insightful.com. You can also order documents through the IU Bookstore or directly from StatSci, 1700 Westlake Ave. N. Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98109 (1-800/569-0123, e-mail: mktg@statsci.com).
Training Availability: Poor
There are no university sources of training for S-PLUS. Those who want to get started with S-PLUS may contact the UITS Stat/Math Center.
User Group: None
There is no local S-PLUS user's group at IU; however, S-PLUS maintains a WWW site that includes user support.
UITS Consulting Support: Limited Support
S-PLUS is categorized as a faculty sponsored software for support. That is, instructors who use this software for instruction are responsible for consulting support. However, limited consulting support is available from UITS Stat/Math Center from 9 am to 5 pm (M-F) via phone, email, and for walkins. Appointment is recommended for walkin consulting.
Other Consulting Support: Fair
Since UITS is providing only limited support for S-PLUS students using the software as part of their coursework should contact their instructors first for help. Registered S-PLUS users can contact the vendor directly for help. S-PLUS users can always turn to their colleagues who are familiar with S-PLUS for help.
