computer science

SPRING

SPRING is a computer 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 SPRING rather than just read about it. In short: SPRING was a freeware geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing image processing system. It was developed with an object-oriented data model and used for the integration of raster and vector data representations.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

SPRING was a freeware geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing image processing system. It was developed with an object-oriented data model and used for the integration of raster and vector data representations. It had Windows and Linux versions and provided a comprehensive set of functions, including tools for satellite image, digital terrain modeling, spatial analysis, geostatistics and spatial statistics, spatial databases and map management. SPRING was developed since 1992 by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Brazil. It had required over 200 man-years of development and included extensive documentation, tutorials and examples. More than 70,000 users from 60 countries have downloaded the software, as of January 2007. It was discontinued in 2019 and succeeded by INPE's TerraLib.

References

External links www.dpi.inpe.br/spring

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SPRING

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SPRING claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer 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 SPRING 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 SPRING 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 SPRING

In research: SPRING appears in computer 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 SPRING 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: SPRING is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Discontinued software, Freeware, GIS software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SPRING 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 SPRING in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SPRING 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 SPRING out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SPRING in simple terms?

Why does SPRING matter?

Because it connects several computer 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 SPRING?

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 SPRING.