Symbolic math packages combine formula derivation with computations, usually in
a handy notebook file. They also do numerical analysis and are adept at reading
many file formats and making graphs. They can be interactive, with quick buttons
and sliders, while doing complex transformations underneath. These are especially
useful if you wish to do complicated transformations to data or interactive discovery
of data.
- Maple from Maplesoft - Linux, Windows
- Maple began as just a language for symbolic math with a purist syntax that made
it a favorite of theorists. The interface has greatly expanded, as have its numerical
and symbolic capabilities.
- Matlab by
MathWorks - Linux, Windows, CIT, CTC
- Matlab is a more visual environment with strong connectivity to user programs in
C, C++, Java, and Fortran. There are lots of packages for this that you just have
to sift through yourself.
- Mathematica by Wolfram
Research - Linux, Windows, CTC
- The strength of Mathematica is its underlying language, which is similar to LISP.
It is a complete programming language with powerful idioms. There are a ton of packages
for Mathematica, many of them free. It also has strong communication capabilities,
so you can link to it directly from your own programs.
