The answer may best be given by an analogy. Remember using the
Shore Protection Manual and having to make detailed calculations, developing
spreadsheets of answers as a function of wave height or stone size
/ weight. The SPM gave a tremendous amount of information on
'How to do' something related to coastal project design. But the
effort to carry out required calculations was very time consuming
and highly
prone to human error.
The Professional Edition of the CEM (about 3 times the size of the
SPM) not only tells you how to do something but does it for you with
a click of the mouse. It is not only a manual, but a sophisticated
computer program with over 500 codes that allows most of the required
computations to be performed within the manual. Time saved by the use
of CEM 2.01 PE quickly repays its initial cost many times over.
The Standard Edition is designed primarily as a Reference Manual
while the Professional Edition is designed for the coastal practitioner
who
makes computations using equations in the CEM. In the Standard Edition,
everything contained in the Professional Edition is included except
the capability to perform calculations within the CEM. CEM 2.01
SE is a practical way to have access to the manual used worldwide
and inexpensive enough to have multiple copies.
