Wolfram Mathematica: Difference between revisions

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Line 133: Line 133:
Mathematica is [[proprietary software]] restricted by both [[trade secret]] and [[copyright]] law.<ref>[http://www.wolfram.com/terms/MathematicaLicenseAgreement.pdf Wolfram Mathematica License Agreement]</ref>
Mathematica is [[proprietary software]] restricted by both [[trade secret]] and [[copyright]] law.<ref>[http://www.wolfram.com/terms/MathematicaLicenseAgreement.pdf Wolfram Mathematica License Agreement]</ref>


A regular single-user license for Mathematica used in a commercial environment costs between $2495 and $3120. It includes four additional kernels for parallel computations and one year of service that includes updates, technical support, a home use license, a webMathematica Amateur license<ref>[http://www.wolfram.com/products/webmathematica/versions/amateurorder.html webMathematica terms]</ref>, a Wolfram Workbench license and three Mathematica Player Pro licenses. Discounts are available for government, charity, educational, pre-college, school, student, home use<ref>[http://www.macworld.com/article/138664/2009/02/mathematica.html Mathematica Home Edition Released] Macworld, Feb 2009</ref> and retiree use and depend on geographical region. Educational site licenses allow use by students at home. A license manager similar to [[Flexlm|FLEXnet]] is available to provide sharing of licenses within a group.
A regular single-user license for Mathematica used in a commercial environment costs between $2495 and $3120. It includes four additional kernels for parallel computations and one year of service that includes updates, technical support, a home use license, a webMathematica Amateur license<ref>[http://www.wolfram.com/products/webmathematica/versions/amateurorder.html webMathematica terms]</ref>, a Wolfram Workbench license and three Mathematica Player Pro licenses. Discounts are available for government, charity, educational, pre-college, school, student, home use<ref>[http://www.macworld.com/article/138664/2009/02/mathematica.html Mathematica Home Edition Released] Macworld, Feb 2009</ref> and retiree use and depend on geographical region. Student licenses cost $140. Educational site licenses allow use by students at home. A license manager similar to [[Flexlm|FLEXnet]] is available to provide sharing of licenses within a group.


== Platform availability ==
== Platform availability ==

Revision as of 17:09, 5 October 2009

Template:Otheruses2

Mathematica
Developer(s)Wolfram Research
Initial releaseJune 23, 1988[1]
Stable release14.0.0 (January 9, 2024; 5 months ago (2024-01-09)) [±][2]
Written inMathematica,
statistics, user interface creation
LicenseProprietary
WebsiteMathematica homepage

Mathematica is a computational software program used in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other areas of technical computing. It was originally conceived by Stephen Wolfram and is developed by Wolfram Research of Champaign, Illinois.[3][4]

Features

File:Simple-manip-mathematica-png.png
A plot and manipulation dialog created with one line of code

Features of Mathematica include[5]:

Interface

Mathematica is split into two parts, the

"kernel"
and the "front end". The kernel interprets expressions (Mathematica code) and returns result expressions.

The Mathematica Front End, designed by

GUI, which allows the creation and editing of Notebook documents that can contain program code with prettyprinting
, formatted text together with results including typeset mathematics, graphics, GUI components, tables, and sounds. All contents and formatting can be generated algorithmically or interactively edited, and most standard word processing capabilities are supported but only one level of "undo" is supported.

Documents can be structured using a hierarchy of cells, which allow for outlining and sectioning of a document and support automatic numbering index creation. Documents can be presented in a slideshow environment for presentations. Notebooks and their contents are represented as Mathematica expressions that can be created, modified or analysed by Mathematica programs. This allows conversion to other formats such as TeX or XML.

The Mathematica Front End includes development tools such as a debugger, input completion and automatic syntax coloring.

The kernel and the front end communicate via the

MathLink
protocol. It is possible to use the kernel on one computer and the front end on another.

The standard Mathematica front-end is used by default, but alternative front-ends are available, including the Wolfram Workbench, an Eclipse based IDE, introduced in 2006. It provides project-based code development tools for Mathematica, including revision management, debugging, profiling, and testing.[8] Mathematica includes a command line front end.

High-performance computing

In recent years, the capabilities for

GNU Multi-Precision Library
to evaluate high-precision arithmetic.

Version 5.2 (2005) added automatic multi-threading when computations are performed on multi-core computers.[11] This release included CPU specific optimized libraries. In addition Mathematica is supported by third party specialist acceleration hardware such as ClearSpeed.[12]

In 2002,

Sun Grid
.

Planned support for CUDA hardware was announced in 2008 but is still only provided by a third party add-on.

Development

Several solutions are available for deploying applications written in Mathematica:

  • Mathematica Player Pro is a runtime version of Mathematica that will run any Mathematica application but does not allow editing or creation of the code.[14]
  • Mathematica Player is a free interactive player is provided for running Mathematica programs that have been digitally signed for non-commercial use via a Wolfram Research web service, or published on the Wolfram Demonstrations Project website. It can also view unsigned Mathematica files, but not run them.
  • webMathematica allows a web browser to act as a front end to a remote Mathematica server. It is designed to allow a user written application to be remotely accessed via a browser on any platform. It may not be used to give full access to Mathematica.

Connections with other applications

Communication with other applications occurs through a protocol called MathLink. It allows communication between the Mathematica kernel and front-end, and also provides a general interface between the kernel and other applications.

Although Mathematica has a large array of functionality, a number of interfaces to other software have been developed, for use where other programs have functionality that Mathematica does not provide, to enhance those applications, or to access legacy code.

Languages
Spreadsheets
Specialized Mathematical software

Mathematical equations can be exchanged with other computational or typesetting software as MathML.

Data acquisition
Alternative Interfaces

Computable data

A stream plot of live weather data

Mathematica includes collections of curated data in a consistent framework for immediate computation. Data can be accessed programmatically to inform or test models and is updated automatically from a data server at Wolfram Research[39]. Some data such as share prices and weather are delivered in real-time. Data sets currently include:

  • Astronomical data: 99 properties of 155,000 astronomical bodies
  • Chemical data: 111 properties of 34,000 chemical compounds, 86 properties of 118 chemical elements and 35 properties of 1000 subatomic particles
  • Geopolitical data: 225 properties of 237 countries and 14 properties of 160,000 cities around the world
  • Financial data: 71 historical and real-time properties of 186,000 shares and financial instruments
  • Mathematical data: 89 properties of 187 polyhedra, 258 properties of 3000 graphs, 63 properties of 6 knots, 37 properties of 21 lattice structures, 32 properties of 52 geodesic schemes
  • Language data: 37 properties of 149,000 English words. 26 additional language dictionaries
  • Biomedical data: 41 properties of all 40,000 human genes, 30 properties of 27,000 proteins
  • Weather data: live and historical measurements of 43 properties of 17,000 weather stations around the world

Licensing

Mathematica is proprietary software restricted by both trade secret and copyright law.[40]

A regular single-user license for Mathematica used in a commercial environment costs between $2495 and $3120. It includes four additional kernels for parallel computations and one year of service that includes updates, technical support, a home use license, a webMathematica Amateur license

FLEXnet
is available to provide sharing of licenses within a group.

Platform availability

Mathematica 7 is supported on various versions of

AIX, Convex, HP-UX, IRIX, MS-DOS, NeXTSTEP, OS/2, Ultrix and Windows Me[44]
.

The Mathematica Home Edition is a 32-bit application on

Mac OS X
for the Home Edition is not clear from the FAQ.

Support

Support via email is available to registered users by the emailing [email protected].

There is no official public support forum for professional users, although there is an official support forum for students.[45] Posts are reviewed by a Wolfram Research moderator before they appear on the student forum.

MathGroup is a moderated email list and internet newsgroup comp.soft-sys.math.mathematica. It has more than 100,000 posts [46] and is the dominant public forum although it is not controlled by Wolfram Research. The moderator is Steve Christensen. Wolfram Research staff regularly answer questions on Mathgroup. The posts are archived by Wolfram Research.

There are several other unofficial support forums, which are unmoderated, so posts appear without delay. These include the newsgroup sci.math.symbolic and http://www.mathematica-users.org, but none have the popularity of the dominant Mathgroup.

Books

There are a large number of books [

symbolic computation, programming
etc.

The 408 page book Mathematica programming: An advanced Introduction written by Leonid Shifrin, released under the

Creative Commons License may be read online or downloaded as a PDF
file for no charge.

Version history

Mathematica built on the ideas in Cole and Wolfram's earlier

Symbolic Manipulation Program (SMP).[47][48]

Wolfram Research has released the following versions of Mathematica[49]:

  • Mathematica 1.0 (1988)[50]
  • Mathematica 1.1 (1989)[51]
  • Mathematica 1.2 (1989)[52]
  • Mathematica 2.0 (1991)[53]
  • Mathematica 2.1 (1992)[15]
  • Mathematica 2.2 (1993)[54]
  • Mathematica 3.0 (1996)[55]
  • Mathematica 4.0 (1999)[56]
  • Mathematica 4.1 (2000)
  • Mathematica 4.2 (2002)[17]
  • Mathematica 5.0 (2003)[57]
  • Mathematica 5.1 (2004)[58]
  • Mathematica 5.2 (2005)[59]
  • Mathematica 6.0 (2007)[60]
  • Mathematica 6.0.1 (2007)
  • Mathematica 6.0.2 (2008)
  • Mathematica 6.0.3 (2008)
  • Mathematica 7.0 (2008)[61]
  • Mathematica 7.0.1 (2009)

See also

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Mathematica
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mathematica.

References

  1. ^ http://blog.wolfram.com/2008/06/23/mathematica-turns-20-today/
  2. ^ "The Story Continues: Announcing Version 14 of Wolfram Language and Mathematica". Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  3. ^ Stephen Wolfram: Simple Solutions; The iconoclastic physicist's Mathematica software nails complex puzzles, BusinessWeek, October 3, 2005.
  4. ^ Wolfram Research Contact Info
  5. ^ Mathematica documentation
  6. ^ Review: Mathematica 7. Technical computing powerhouse gets more oomph Macworld, Jan 2009
  7. ^ Mathematica 6 Labs Review Cadalyst Feb 1, 2008
  8. ^ MacWorld review of Wolfram Workbench
  9. ^ Math software packs new power; new programs automate such tedious processes as solving nonlinear differential equations and converting units by Agnes Shanley, Chemical Engineering, March 1, 2002.
  10. ^ Mathematica 5.1: additional features make software well-suited for operations research professionals by ManMohan S. Sodhi, OR/MS Today, December 1, 2004.
  11. ^ The 21st annual Editors' Choice Awards, Macworld, February 1, 2006.
  12. ^ ClearSpeed Advance(TM) Accelerator Boards Certified by Wolfram Research; Math Coprocessors Enable Mathematica Users to Quadruple Performance.
  13. ^ gridMathematica offers parallel computing solution by Dennis Sellers, MacWorld, November 20, 2002.
  14. ^ Mathematica Player Pro - new Application Delivery System for Mathematica www.gizmag.com
  15. ^ a b New Mathematica: faster, leaner, linkable and QuickTime-compatible: MathLink kit allows ties to other apps. (Wolfram Research Inc. ships Mathematica 2.1, new QuickTime-compatible version of Mathematica software) by Daniel Todd, MacWeek, June 15, 1992.
  16. ^ .NET/Link: .NET/Link is a toolkit that integrates Mathematica and the Microsoft .NET Framework.
  17. ^ a b Mathematica 4.2: [[Feature-rich Feature-Rich Math Program Integrates with the Web, Adds Full Java Support] by Charles Seiter, Macworld, November 1, 2002.
  18. ^ Mathematica 5.1 Available , Database Journal, Jan 3, 2005.
  19. ^ Mathematical Web Services: W3C Note 1 August 2003
  20. ^ Introduction to Web Services, Mathematica Web Services Tutorial
  21. ^ MrMathematica website
  22. ^ Haskell pakages
  23. ^ Unisoftware plus
  24. ^ CalcLink OpenOffice Extensions
  25. ^ [1]Mathematica Link for Excel
  26. ^ Mathsource item #618 for calling MATLAB from Mathematica Roger Germundsson from Wolfram Research
  27. R
    from within Mathematica
  28. R
    's functionality with Mathematica Wolfram Technology Conference in 2006
  29. ^ http://facstaff.unca.edu/mcmcclur/Mathematica/Sage/ Calling Sage from Mathematica
  30. Sage
    from Mathematica.
  31. ^ [2] Manuel Kauers and Viktor Levandovskyy of the Johannes Kepler University in Austria
  32. ^ Interface Links Origin And Mathematica Software Electronic Design
  33. ^ Mathematica Link to Labview BetterView Consulting
  34. ^ GITM SourceForge
  35. ^ BTopTools A commercial interface to USB devices
  36. ^ [http://library.wolfram.com/infocenter/MathSource/6380/ Interfacing Hardware with Mathematica]
  37. ^ JMath website
  38. ^ MASH website
  39. ^ http://reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/guide/ScientificAndTechnicalData.html
  40. ^ Wolfram Mathematica License Agreement
  41. ^ webMathematica terms
  42. ^ Mathematica Home Edition Released Macworld, Feb 2009
  43. ^ Supported platforms list
  44. ^ Mathematica 6 Platform Availability
  45. ^ Official support forum for students
  46. ^ Mathgroup
  47. ^ Math, the universe, and Stephen: the author of Mathematica created a whirlwind of scientific controversy this year when, after more than 10 years of research, he published his treatise on the ability of simple structures to create unpredictable complex patterns. (2002 Scientist Of The Year).(Stephen Wolfram) by Tim Studt, R&D, November 1 , 2002.
  48. ^ A Top Scientist's Latest: Math Software by Andrew Pollack, The New York Times, June 24, 19988.
  49. ^ Quick Revision History of Mathematica
  50. ^ Supercomputer Pictures Solve the Once Insoluble, John Markoff, October 30, 1988.
  51. ^ Mathematica 1.1. Biotechnology Software. Vogel, W. K. (1989)
  52. ^ Mathematica 1.2 adds new graphics options: upgrade also promises concurrent operations by Elinor Craig, MacWeek, July 25, 1989.
  53. ^ Mathematica + 283 functions = Mathematica 2.0 by Raines Cohen, MacWeek, January 15, 1991.
  54. ^ New version of Mathematica, Mechanical Engineering, June 1, 1993.
  55. ^ New Mathematica by Stephen H. Wildstrom, BusinessWeek, June 15, 1997.
  56. ^ Mathematica 4.0 by Charles Seiters, Macworld, October 1, 1999.
  57. ^ Mathematica 5.0 Adds Up: Exactly 15 years after Mathematica's initial release, Wolfram Research has released Mathematica , PC Magazine, September 3, 2003.
  58. ^ Mathematica 5.1's Web Services Add Up; Mathematica 5.1 delivers improvements over Version 5.0 that are vastly out of proportion for a .1 upgrade. by Peter Coffee, eWeek, December 6, 2004.
  59. ^ Mathematica hits 64-bit, MacWorld UK, July 13, 2005.
  60. ^ Mathematica 6: Felix Grant finds that version 6 of Wolfram Research's symbolic mathematical software really does live up to its expectations. Scientific Computing, 2007.
  61. ^ Mathematica 7: Released Wolfram Blog, 2008.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wolfram_Mathematica&oldid=318078918"