Statistical Software: An Overview

Introduction

It is generally acknowledged that the most important changes in statistics in the last 50 years are driven by technology. More specifically, by the development and universal availability of fast computers and of devices to collect and store ever-increasing amounts of data. Satellite remote sensing, large-scale sensor networks, continuous environmental monitoring, medical imaging, micro-arrays, the various genomes, and computerized surveys have not just created a need for new statistical techniques. These new forms of massive data collection also require efficient implementation of these new techniques in software. Thus development of statistical software has become more and more important in the last decades.

Large data sets also create new problems of their own. In the early days, in which the t-test reigned, including the data in a published article was easy, and reproducing the results of the analysis did not take much effort. In fact, it was usually enough to provide...