{{Short description|programmingComputer language for array processing}}
In contexts of [[solar physics]] and [[data analysis]], '''Ana''' is a computer language that is designed for array processing and image data analysis. The name is an acronym for "A Non Acronym". Ana began as a [[fork (software development)|fork]] of an early version of [[IDL (programming language)|IDL]], but has diverged significantly since then. It is particularly notable for being the only known fork of IDL from its early days as a quasi-open-source software package.
Ana was used as early as 1989 to track [[solar granulation]] using the SOUP instrument on [[Spacelab]],<ref name="TitleTarbellTopka1989">{{cite journal | last1 = Title | first1 = A. M. | last2 = Tarbell | first2 = T. D. | last3 = Topka | first3 = K. P. | last4 = Ferguson | first4 = S. H. | last5 = Shine | first5 = R. A. | last6 = SOUP Team | title = Statistical properties of solar granulation derived from the SOUP instrument on Spacelab 2 | journal = The Astrophysical Journal | date = January 1989 | volume = 336 | page = 475 | issn = 0004-637X | eissn = 1538-4357 | doi = 10.1086/167026 | bibcode = 1989ApJ...336..475T | doi-access = free }}</ref>, and by the late 1990s it was in common use at the [[Lockheed-Martin Space Applications Laboratory]] and at other institutions that analyzed data from the [[TRACE]] spacecraft; it was never commonly used outside the community of active [[solar physics]] researchers, but represents a significant step forward in data analysis tools in that era. Ana was ultimately used to implement several important data visualization tools that advanced the state of the art, in the late 1990s -- notably1990s—notably a multispectral image viewer that was used for several space missions including [[Yohkoh]], [[Solar and Heliospheric Observatory|SOHO]], [[TRACE]], and [[Hinode (satellite)|Hinode]].<ref name="HurlbertShineTarbell1997">{{citation | last1 = Hurlbert | first1 = Neal E. | last2 = Shine | first2 = Richard A. | last3 = Tarbell | first3 = Theodore D. | editor-first1 = Georges G. | editor-first2 = Robert F. | editor-last1 = Grinstein | editor-last2 = Erbacher | title = Interactive interface for visualizing and analyzing multispectral solar images | series = Visual Data Exploration and Analysis IV | date = 9 April 1997 | volume = 3017 | pages = 165–173 | publisher = SPIE | issn = 0277-786X | doi = 10.1117/12.270325 | bibcode = 1997SPIE.3017..165H | s2cid = 61026169 }}</ref> Ana appears to have been intended as [[free software]] though it is not distributed under a recognized [[FOSS]] license. It remains available as source code, primarily through the [[Solarsoft]] distribution system, but its role as an open source, reproducible data analysis language has been subsumed by more recent tools such as [[Perl Data Language|PDL]] and [[Numpy]]/[[Astropy]].
