Tell me more ×
Cross Validated is a question and answer site for statisticians, data analysts, data miners and data visualization experts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

Is MATLAB better than R for time series analysis and forecasting or vice versa? What other software is considered best for time series analysis?

share|improve this question
2  
I think it is a possible duplicate, or at least there was a lot of discussion before stats.stackexchange.com/q/25/2645 In my ranking I would suggest open source R or Gretl for time series analysis, but it's just me. – Dmitrij Celov Oct 6 '11 at 9:54
If you wish to go beyond simple ARIMA models that assume no deterministic trends i.e. series of the form ,,,,,1,2,3,4 or level shifts ,,,,,1,1,1,1, or seasonal pulses ,,,,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,1 and pulse variables 0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0, AND that the parameters don't vary/change over time AND that the error variance doesn't change over time , you could be ok with the R or MATLAB. ARIMA models need to be robust to the ideas expressed here. – IrishStat Oct 6 '11 at 14:28
I did not know about Gretl. Just downloaded it. I hope it works well for environment data. – Bailey Oct 7 '11 at 3:21

2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

You can do roughly the same with the 2.

  • Matlab is maybe cleaner as you have only one clean library of function for each task,
  • R is maybe more flexible as you have a LOT of packages that provide several methods for each analysis.
share|improve this answer
2  
I would agree, and add that Matlab has a horrible syntax (if you can call it that) and costs a pretty penny. – Wayne Oct 6 '11 at 3:28
I have access to MATLAB at the uni. The main issue is the availability and ease of use of various methods. – Bailey Oct 6 '11 at 6:44
1  
Would anyone consider Octave as a reliable clone of Matlab? – Owe Jessen Oct 6 '11 at 7:45
1  
R is free and used more and more. I suggest to take this opportunity to test it. – RockScience Oct 6 '11 at 8:09
@Bailey Also if you have to deal with real precises dates the way Matlab handles dates is awfull as long as you have fractions of (Matlab) days that have infinite number of decimals ... – robin girard Jan 25 '12 at 8:33
up vote 1 down vote

I would suggest try Python which provides high productivity and it is free. They are some good libraries for Python. You can also have a look on a presentation Time Series with Python. FYI, Python+its packages (all free) could replace all Matlab+mathematica+... can do with additional advantages such as it is a very well know-highly appreciated fast growing programming language.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.