S is a very high level language and an environment for data analysis and graphics. S was written by Richard A. Becker, John M. Chambers, and Allan R. Wilks of AT&T Bell Laboratories Statistics Research Department. More recently, other Bell Labs researchers have made major contributions to a new modeling capability in S. The S language is the form in which S users express their computations. The environment provides facilities for data management, support for many graphics devices, etc. S is useful for computation in a wide range of applications. It's a very general tool, so that applications are not restricted to any particular subject area. One way to think of it is to imagine the wide range of applications that can be handled by a spreadsheet program--but think of an even broader range of applications because S is much more flexible for complex computations. As examples, S has been used for computing in business, finance, experimental science, etc. The authors of S prefer that you not call S a statistics package. Most of the people who use S have no attachment to statistics, and most of the S applications involve basic quantitative computations and graphics. "Package" really doesn't apply well to S, either. The word "package" often connotes a collection of unrelated tools put together under one name; this is unlike S, where all functions are tightly integrated and controlled by the S language.
The current S version is the April, 1992 version. A new release is currently being Beta tested and will be released commercially in 1998. This version (Version 4) will incorporate significant changes to the language, yet will be backwards compatible with the existing version of S.
S-PLUS is a value-added version of S sold by MathSoft, Inc. S-PLUS is a fully supported and documented application which has been compiled and tested on numerous architectures. It is available in both UNIX and Windows versions.
S is a subset of S-PLUS, and hence anything which may be done in S may be done in S-PLUS. In addition S-PLUS has extended functionality in a wide variety areas, including robust regression, modern nonparametric regression, time series, survival analysis, multivariate analysis, classical statistical tests, quality control, and graphics drivers. Add-on modules add additional capabilities for wavelet analysis, spatial statistics, and design of experiments. In addition, S-PLUS 4.0 for Windows introduces a full-featured graphical user interface with tremendous functionality.
The current version of S-PLUS is Version 3.4 on UNIX and 4.0 on Windows. For a complete table of operating systems for which S-PLUS is available see See section What machines does S/S-PLUS run on?.
The book, "The New S Language", was published in 1988 and introduced the modern version of S that is known today. The version of S prior to that (described in "S: An Interactive Environment for Data Analysis and Graphics") is now called old S and is defunct.
The source code for S is licensed by AT&T Bell Laboratories, but is distributed exclusively by StatSci. For information on contacting StatSci, See section How do I get S-PLUS?.
For each release of S, there is only one version of the source code--it contains instructions for compiling on a variety of platforms. For more information, See section Should I get S in source form or binary?.
If you really want to read (and/or modify) the C and Fortran code that makes up S, then you need a source license. For most people who want to run S, however, a binary version of S is more convenient. It has already been compiled and specialized to a particular machine and thus it can be installed very easily. It may support specialized graphics devices for that machine. It will also be much less expensive, both in initial cost and because you don't need to purchase C and Fortran compilers in order to process the source code.
S is written primarily in the C language, but it also makes use of Fortran subroutines to carry out various numerical algorithms. Thus, in order to compile the S source code, you need both C and Fortran compilers, (and the compilers must be compatible with one another so that C programs can call Fortran programs, and vice versa.) It may be possible to use a Fortran-to-C translator rather than a compatible Fortran compiler.
At one point in time a binary version of S known as SUCCESS was available for some machines. Currently S is only available in binary from StatSci as a component of S-PLUS.
For more information, See section What software do I need to go along with S?, See section How does one install S? How long does it take?, See section How much disk space is necessary to install S?, See section How much disk space is necessary to install S-PLUS?, See section What is the best machine for S?, and See section What operating system does S need?.
There are various prices for S, depending on whether you get it in source form or in binary form. The binary version price also depends on the particular machine it is targeted for. There is also an educational price schedule and different prices in different countries. To get current prices appropriate to your situation, talk to a sales representative.
For more information, See section How do I get S?.
Prices for S-PLUS, too, cannot be specified because of country dependence and discounts for non-profit and academic users.
For more info, See section How do I get S-PLUS?.
An electronic source for information on S-PLUS is the MathSoft Web site.
The URL for this site is http://www.mathsoft.com/.
If you are using a Web browser, you may access this site by clicking
here.
You can get S-PLUS in North America from:
MathSoft
1700 Westlake Ave North
Suite 500
Seattle, WA 98109
(800) 569-0123 toll free in the United States and Canada
(206) 283-8802
(206) 283-8691 fax
E-Mail: mktg@statsci.com
Sales and support outside of North America is provided through distributors. Contact information for local distributors may be obtained from MathSoft at:
MathSoft
Knightway House
Park Street
Bagshot
GU19 5AQ
England
+44 276 452299
+44 276 451224
shelp@mathsoft.co.uk
No, MathSoft does not supply source code for S-PLUS.
At one point in time a binary version of S known as SUCCESS was available for some machines. However, this product is no longer produced. MathSoft is the exclusive U.S. distributor of S and S-PLUS. There are local distributors in a number of other countries. MathSoft in Seattle will forward requests to the relevant distributor.
If you run a binary version of S, such as S-PLUS, then you will
be supplied with all the software necessary for using the system.
You may find it useful to have C or Fortran compilers in order
to use the .C() and .Fortran() functions in S--these
allow you to add your own compiled algorithms to S.
For more info, See section Should I get S in source form or binary?, and See section Dynamic Loading in S.
In general, the person installing S on a machine should be familiar with the machine and its operating system, and should have some moderate level of computer sophistication. It requires much more training to compile and install S than to use it. If you fear this may be more than you are up to, then you should probably think of getting a binary version of S that is ready to install on your machine.
The installation of S is run under control of a program, and when there are no difficulties, it runs quickly and without intervention. On certain machines, S has been installed, including all compilations, in under an hour (about 15 minutes to set everything up and then wait for the compiles). Of course, that is when everything goes right. There is no known upper bound on the time to install.
For more information, See section Should I get S in source form or binary?.
You should have approximately 40Mb of free disk space before installing the S source code and attempting to compile it. After the compilation process, you can remove many files, producing an executable version of S that occupies approximately 10--15Mb of disk (the precise number depends on the machine and operating system).
S-PLUS is distributed in binary form and installation is quick, a few minutes (the exact time depends on the local environment) adapting to the local environment.
MathSoft recommends 45 MB of storage space for UNIX and 80 MB for Windows. (A lesser amount of disk space can be used to install a partial version of S-PLUS.) In addition, 48 MB or more of swap space is recommended for the UNIX version, where the swap space actually required is dependent on the size of the data sets analyzed.
S runs on a wide range of computers, from powerful personal computers to large mainframes. Most people use S on "professional workstations" such as those manufactured by DEC, Hewlett Packard, Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems, and others. High-end personal machines, notably machines based on the Intel 80486 or Pentium architectures are also reasonable candidates for running S. (For more information, See section What operating system does S need?.)
S-PLUS is available on a variety of UNIX and Windows computers. Please refer to the table below to see platform, hardware requirements, OS requirements and expected upgrade dates. All current S-PLUS versions are based on the AT&T S version dated May, '92.
Platform OS S-PLUS release
req'd number
---------------------------------------------
SPARC and SPARC SUNOS 4.1.3/4.1.4 3.4
compatibles Solaris 2.3/2.4/2.5
DECstation Ultrix 4.4 3.4
DEC Alpha OSF 3.2 3.4
HP 9000-7xx HP-UX 9.x 3.4
and 8xx
IBM RS-6000 AIX 3.2.5 3.4
SGI IRIS-4D, IRIX 5.2/5.3/6.0 3.4
Indigo, IRIS
compatibles
S-PLUS for WINDOWS Windows 3.1, 4.0
Windows 3.1.1,
Windows 95,
Windows NT
---------------------------------------------
RAM MEMORY REQUIRED: UNIX 12 MB
Windows 32 MB
HARD DISK SPACE REQUIRED:
Swap Space
UNIX 48 MB or more swap space recommended.
Swap space actually required is dependent
on size of data analyzed.
Hard Disk Storage Space:
UNIX 45 MB
Windows 80 MB
In all cases, more memory will result in improved S-PLUS performance.
If the machine you are interested in running S-PLUS on is not on the list above contact the MathSoft Sales Department at 800-569-0123 or at mktg@statsci.com for more information.
That's particularly difficult to answer and even if we came up with an answer today, it would likely be different tomorrow. Because S operates on a wide range of machines that run the Unix operating system, and because the newest, most powerful and cost-effective workstations normally run Unix, S generally operates on the "best" machines at any point in time.
S was designed to work with the Unix operating system; it works with the System V, Berkeley and Research versions. Several organizations have made S work with other operating systems, too, including DEC's VMS and Microsoft's Windows 95.
For more information, See section What machines does S/S-PLUS run on?, and See section Will S/S-PLUS run on machine X running OS Y?.
One of the powerful features of S is its unified capability for expressing statistical models. The 1992 book, `Statistical Models in S', is written specifically for people who want to perform statistical computations. It describes how to use S to carry out a wide range of computations for techniques such as linear models, analysis of variance, generalized linear models, generalized additive models, smoothing, tree-based models, and non-linear models.
Simpler and more classical statistical computations can easily
be programmed in S; often you will find someone has already done
the work, e.g. the MASS package available from statlib,
(See section What is the statlib server? How can I access it?, for
information on statlib) and in S-PLUS.
You type an expression to S; S evaluates it and displays the answer. Thus, S works something like a desk calculator. The difference is that S can operate with large collections of data at once, so one expression might produce a graph, fit a line to a set of points, or carry out another complex operation.
S is a language that conforms to a particularly small, uniform set of rules. That means that the S language itself is easy to learn. In fact, most non-programmers find S very natural; programmers occasionally have trouble with S concepts because they are so much more general than those in traditional programming languages. It will take some time, though, to become familiar with the large number of functions supplied with S.
S-PLUS 4.0 for Windows adds a customizable point-and-click interface with statistics and graphics menus and dialogs.
For more info, See section What documentation is available for S, S-PLUS?,
See section What is the statlib server? How can I access it?, and
See section Are archives of the S-news digests available?.
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