Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Open Source Symbolic Math Packages?

Posted by Cliff on from the here-we-go-again dept.

3Suns asks: "There are many proprietary symbolic mathematics suites available, including Mathcad, Mathematica, and Maple. Strangely, I can't find a single free software project with similar functionality. These programs are as ubiquitous in universities and engineering companies as they are expensive. Given the deep roots of open-source in higher education, what can explain the lack of free/open-source mathematics software?" We last addressed this question three years ago, but a lot can change in that time. Has it?

4 of 46 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Google? by mschaef · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes, maxima...

    http://maxima.sourceforge.net/

    or giac...
    http://www-fourier.ujf-grenoble.fr/~parisse/englis h.html

    (giac, interestingly enough, runs on PDA's for a mobile solution...)

    If you haven't found open source CAS, you haven't really looked...

  2. Depends exactly what you're doing.. by kongtomorrow · · Score: 5, Informative

    For commutative algebra, for example, there's Macaulay2.

  3. Maxima by cstangle · · Score: 4, Informative

    Maxima would probably be your best bet
    It is an implementation of Macsyma written in LISP and will compile and run fairly well on almost any machine
    The syntax is easy to learn and the program is fairly powerful yet approachable
    Even if it's not exactly what you're looking for, it is an extremely valuable tool

  4. Singular by Zork+the+Almighty · · Score: 4, Informative

    Singular is really good for commutative algebra.

    --

    In Soviet America the banks rob you!