science

PV-Wave

PV-Wave is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand PV-Wave rather than just read about it. In short: PV-WAVE (Precision Visuals - Workstation Analysis and Visualization Environment) is an array oriented fourth-generation programming language used by engineers, scientists, researchers, business analysts and software developers to build and deploy visual data analysis applications. In January 2019, PV-Wave parent Rogue Wave Software was acquired by Minneapolis, Minnesota-based application software developer Perforce.

Key takeaways

PV-Wave belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect PV-Wave to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of PV-Wave from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PV-WAVE (Precision Visuals - Workstation Analysis and Visualization Environment) is an array oriented fourth-generation programming language used by engineers, scientists, researchers, business analysts and software developers to build and deploy visual data analysis applications. In January 2019, PV-Wave parent Rogue Wave Software was acquired by Minneapolis, Minnesota-based application software developer Perforce.

History PV-WAVE was originally developed by a company called Precision Visuals, based in Boulder, CO. In 1992, the IMSL Numerical Libraries and Precision Visuals merged and the new company was renamed Visual Numerics. PV-WAVE is closely related to the IDL (programming language), from whose code-base PV-WAVE originated. The shared history of PV-WAVE and IDL began in 1988, when Precision Visuals entered into an agreement with Research Systems, Incorporated (RSI, the original developer of IDL) under which Precision Visuals resold IDL under the name PV-WAVE. In September 1990, Precision Visuals exercised an option in its agreement with RSI to purchase a copy of the IDL source code. Since then, IDL and PV-WAVE have been on separate development tracks: each product has been enhanced, supported, and maintained separately by its respective company. In May 2009, Visual Numerics was acquired by Rogue Wave Software. In January 2019, Rogue Wave Software was acquired by Minneapolis, Minnesota-based application software developer Perforce.

About Due to their common history, PV-WAVE and IDL share a similar FORTRAN-like syntax, as well as many common commands, functions, and subroutines.

References

External links PV-WAVE site

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with PV-Wave

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what PV-Wave claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to PV-Wave before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about PV-Wave ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of PV-Wave

In research: PV-Wave appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses PV-Wave in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: PV-Wave is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Programming language topic stubs, Programming languages, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for PV-Wave outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study PV-Wave in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what PV-Wave means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain PV-Wave out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is PV-Wave in simple terms?

Why does PV-Wave matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study PV-Wave?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on PV-Wave.