1.3 Pros and Cons of using PRIMER
To re-cap and summarise, below is a table outlining the primary pros and cons of using PRIMER, as I see it:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| $\bullet$ Easy to use | $\bullet$ Not free |
| $\bullet$ High-quality results you can trust | $\bullet$ Not platform-independent (Windows only) |
| $\bullet$ Special focus: robust multivariate methods, especially for ecology | $\bullet$ Niche is somewhat narrow |
| $\bullet$ Built by a small team of experts | $\bullet$ Not much univariate or classical stats |
| $\bullet$ Does not require programming skills or code-writing | $\bullet$ No scripting (yet) |
| $\bullet$ Does many things that no other software will do | |
| $\bullet$ Handles complex experimental/sampling designs correctly | |
| $\bullet$ Great for scientists/practitioners |