Computer Algebra Software: Maxima, Pari/GP, Mathematica, Sage

a side-by-side reference sheet

arithmetic and logic | random numbers | strings | arrays | other containers | functions | execution control
environment and i/o | libraries and modules | reflection

algebra | calculus | number theory | vectors | matrices | distributions | univariate charts | bivariate charts | trivariate charts
contact

maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
version used 5.21 2.3 8.0 4.5
get version $ maxima --version $ gp --version select About Mathematica in Mathematica menu $ sage --version
command line repl $ maxima $ gp $ math $ sage
interpreter $ gp -q foo.gp
list function documentation ?? ?
get function documentation ? tan
describe(tan)
? tan ?Tan
Information[Tan]
tan?
grep documentation ?? tan
statement separator ; newline or ; ; or sometimes newline ; or sometimes newline
block delimiters { } none offside rule
assignment a: 3 a = 3 a = 3
Set[a, 3]
a = 3
parallel assignment [a,b]: [3,4]
[a: 3, b: 4]
none {a, b} = {3, 4}
Set[{a,b}, {3,4}]
a, b = 3, 4
compound assignment operators: arithmetic, string, logical += -= *= /= %= += -= *= /=
corresponding functions:
AddTo SubtractFrom TimeBy DivideBy
+= -= *= /= //= %= **=
+= *=
&= |= ^=
increment, decrement return value after increment or decrement:
x++ x--
++x --x
PreIncrement[x] PreDecrement[x]
x++ x--
Increment[x] Decrement[x]
none
to-end-of-line comment 1 + 1 \\ addition none 1 + 1 # addition
delimited comment 1 + /* addition */ 1 1 + /* addition */ 1 1 + (* addition *) 1
null Null None
null test a == None
a is None
undefined variable access treated as an unknown number treated as an unknown number raises NameError
undefine a variable kill(x) Clear[x]
arithmetic and logic
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
true and false true false 1 0 True False True False
falsehoods false 0 False False None 0 0.0 '' [] {}
logical operators is(not true or ( true and false)) ! 1 || ( 1 && 0) ! True || ( True && False)
Or[Not[True], And[True, False]]
not True or ( True and False)
conditional expression if is(x>0) then x else -x if(x > 0, x, -x) If[x > 0, x, -x] x if x > 0 else -x
convert from string, to string 7 + parse_string("12")
73.9 + parse_string(".037")
7 + ToExpression["12"]
73.9 + ToExpression[".037"]
"value: " <> ToString[8]
7 + int('12')
73.9 + float('.037')
'value: ' + str(8)
comparison operators = # > < >= <= == != > < >= <= == != > < >= <=
corresponding functions:
Equal Unequal Greater Less GreaterEqual LessEqual
== != > < >= <=
arithmetic operators + - * / quotient mod ^
quotient and mod are functions, not binary infix operators
+ - * / none % ^ + - * / Quotient Mod ^
adjacent terms are multiplied, so * is not necessary. Quotient and Mod are functions, not binary infix operators. These functions are also available:
Plus Subtract Times Divide Power
+ - * / // % **
integer division quotient(a, b) divrem(a, b)[1] Quotient[a,b] a // b
float division float(a) / b exact division:
a / b
exact division:
a / b
float(a) / b
arithmetic constants Pi Pi
arithmetic functions sqrt exp log sin cos tan asin acos atan atan2 sqrt exp log sin cos tan asin acos atan none Sqrt Exp Log Sin Cos Tan ArcSin ArcCos ArcTan ArcTan
ArcTan accepts 1 or 2 arguments
sqrt exp log sin cos tan asin acos atan atan2
arithmetic truncation truncate round ceiling floor truncate round ceil floor IntegerPart Round Ceiling Floor int round ceil floor
arithmetic decomposition abs sign ratnumer ratdenom realpart imagpart abs sign numerator denominator real imag Abs Sign Numerator Denominator Re Im Arg abs sign numerator denominator real imag arg
closure of integers under division rationals rationals rationals rationals
integer overflow none, has arbitrary length integer type none, has arbitrary length integer type none, has arbitrary length integer type none, has arbitrary length integer type
float overflow none Infnity
float limits none none
1/0 Error: Division by 0 error: division by zero ComplexInfinity ZeroDivisionError exception
sqrt(-2) $\sqrt{2}$ %i 1.414213*I I Sqrt[2] n(sqrt(-2),digits=5)
-9.0475e-7 + 1.4142*I
complex numbers %i
2 * %i
3 * %i
I
2*I
3*I
I
2I
3I
I
2*I
3*I
random numbers
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
setting and getting seed set_random_state(make_random_state(17));
??
setrand(17)
getrand()
SeedRandom[17]
??
result of not seeding uses fixed seed uses fixed seed seeded at start up using current time?
integer random(100) random(100) RandomInteger[{0, 99}] randint(0,99)
uniform random(1.0) RandomReal[] random()
normal load(distrib);
random_normal(0,1);
nd = NormalDistribution[0,1]
RandomVariate[nd]
gauss(0,1)
exponential load(distrib);
random_exp(1);
ed = ExponentialDistribution[1]
RandomVariate[ed]
expovariate(1)
poisson load(distrib);
random_poisson(1);
pd = PoissonDistribution[1]
RandomVariate[pd]
sample w/o replacement x = {3,7,5,12,19,8,4}
RandomSample[x, 3]
x = [3,7,5,12,19,8,4]
sample(x,3)
strings
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
string literals "don\'t say \"no\"" "don't say \"no\"" "don't say \"no\"" "don't say \"no\""
'don\'t say "no"'
newline in literal no; use \n escape yes no; use \n or triple-quoted string literal
string literal escapes \n \t \" \\ \\ \" \b \f \n \r \t \ooo \newline \\ \' \" \a \b \f \n \r \t \v \ooo \xhh
character access charat("hello", 1) Characters["hello"][[1]] "hello"[0]
chr and ord FromCharacterCode[{65}]
ToCharacterCode["A"][[1]]
chr(65)
ord("A")
length slength("hello") length("hello") StringLength["hello"] len("hello")
concatenate Str("one", "two", "three") "one " <> "two " <> "three" "one " + "two " + "three"
index of substring ssearch("el", "hello")
counts from one, returns false if not found
StringPosition["hello", "el"][[1]][[1]]
StringPosition returns an array of pairs, one for each occurrence of the substring. Each pair contains the index of the first and last character of the occurrence.
counts from zero, raises
ValueError if not found

'hello'.index('el')
extract substring substring("hello", 1, 5) StringTake["hello", {1, 4}] 'hello'[0:4]
split split("foo,bar,baz",",") StringSplit["foo,bar,baz", ","] 'foo,bar,baz'.split(',')
join simplode(["foo","bar","baz"],",") StringJoin[Riffle[{"foo", "bar", "baz"}, ","]] ','.join(['foo','bar','baz'])
trim strim(" ", " foo ")
striml(" ", " foo")
strimr(" ", "foo ")
StringTrim[" foo "] " foo ".strip()
" foo".lstrip()
"foo ".rstrip()
case manipulation supcase("foo")
sdowncase("FOO")sdowncase("FOO")
ToUpperCase["foo"]
ToLowerCase["FOO"]
"foo".upper()
"FOO".lower()
"foo".capitalize()
sprintf none "%s: %.3f %d" % ( "foo", 2.2, 7)
regex test re = RegularExpression["[a-z]+"]
sc = StringCases["hello", re]
Length[sc] > 0
import re
re.match('^[a-z]+$', 'hello')
re.match('^\S+$', 'hello')
regex substitution s = "foo bar bar"
re = RegularExpression["bar"]
StringReplace[s, re -> "baz", 1]
StringReplace[s, re -> "baz"]
import re
s = 'foo bar bar'
re.compile('bar').sub('baz', s, 1)
re.compile('bar').sub('baz', s)
arrays
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
array literal [1,2,3] [1,2,3] {1, 2, 3}
List[1,2,3]
[1,2,3]
must arrays be homogeneous no no no no
array element access indices start at one:
[1,2,3][1]
{1, 2, 3}[[1]] indices start at zero:
[1,2,3][0]
index of array element First[First[Position[{7, 8, 9}, 9]]]
array slice {1, 2, 3}[[1 ;; 2]] [1,2,3][0:2]
integer array as index {1, 2, 3}[[{1, 3, 3}]] v = [1,2,3]
[v[i] for i in [0,2,2]]
logical array as index none
array length length([1,2,3]) length([1,2,3]) Length[{1, 2, 3}] len([1,2,3])
manipulate back of array a = {6,7,8}
AppendTo[a, 9]
elem = a[[Length[a]]]
a = Delete[a, Length[a]]
elem
a = [6,7,8]
a.append(9)
a.pop()
manipulate front of array a = {6,7,8}
PrependTo[a, 5]
elem = a[[1]]
a = Delete[a, 1]
elem
a = [6,7,8]
a.insert(0,5)
a.pop(0)
array concatenation Join[{1, 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6}] [1,2,3] + [4,5,6]
a = [1,2,3]
a.concat([4,5,6])
sort Sort[{3, 1, 4, 2}] sorted([3,1,4,2])
map Function[x, x x] /@ {1, 2, 3}
Map[Function[x, x x], {1, 2, 3}]
map(lambda x: x*x, [1,2,3])
filter Select[{1, 2, 3}, # > 2 &] filter(lambda x: x > 2,[1,2,3])
reduce Fold[Plus, 0, {1, 2, 3}] reduce(lambda x,y:x+y,[1,2,3],0)
other containers
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
tuple literal same as array:
t = {1.7, "hello", {1,2,3}}
t = (1.7,"hello",[1,2,3])
tuple element access t[[1]] t[0]
tuple length Length[t] len(t)
record literal r = { n -> 10, avg -> 3.7, sd -> 0.4} r = {'n':10,'avg':3.7,'sd':0.4}
record member access n /. r r['n']
range Range[1, 100] range(1,101)
arithmetic sequence of integers with difference 10 Range[1, 100, 10] range(0,101,10)
arithmetic sequence of floats with difference 0.1 Range[1, 100, .1] [0.1 * x for x in range(0,101)]
functions
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
definition add(x, y) = x + y add[a_, b_] := a + b def add(a, b):
  return a+b
invocation add(3, 7) add[3, 7] add(3, 7)
return value return argument or None
function value add
anonymous function Function[{a,b},a+b]
(#1+#2) &
body must be single expression:
lambda a,b: a+b
missing argument raises TypeError
extra argument raises TypeError
default argument def mylog(x, base=10):
  return log(x) / log(base)
variable number of arguments def add(*a):
  if len(a) == 0:
    return 0
  return a[0] + add(*a[1:])
execution control
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
if if (is(x > 0)) then print("positive") elseif (is(x < 0)) then print("negative") else print("zero") if(x > 0, \
  print("positive"), \
  if(x < 0, \
    print("negative"), \
    print("zero")))
If[x > 0,
  Print["positive"],
  If[x < 0,
    Print["negative"],
    Print["zero"]]]
if x > 0:
  print('positive')
elif x < 0:
  print('negative')
else:
  print('zero')
while i = 0
while(i < 10, print(i); i++)
i = 0
While[i < 10, Print[i]; i++]
i = 0
while i < 10:
  i += 1
  print(i)
for for(i=0, 9, print(i)) For[i = 0, i < 10, i++, Print[i]] for i in range(1,11):
  print(i)
break/continue break continue Break[] Continue[] break continue
raise exception error("failed") Throw["failed"] raise Exception('failed')
handle exception Print[Catch[Throw["failed"]]] try:
  raise Exception('failed')
except e:
  print(e)
finally block none try:
  if random() > 0.5:
    error('failed')
finally:
  print('cleanup')
environment and i/o
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
write to stdout print("hello") print("hello") Print["hello"] print('hello')
read entire file into string or array s = Import["/etc/hosts"]
a = StringSplit[s, "\n"]
redirect to file
libraries and modules
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
load
reflection
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
query data type type(x) type(x)
list variables in scope ? 0
undefine variable kill(v) Remove[v]
algebra
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
solution to an equation solve(x^3+x+3,x) Solve[x^3 + x + 3 == 0, x] solve(x^3+x+3,x)
solution to two equations solve([x+y=3, x=2*y], [x, y]) Solve[x + y == 3 && x == 2y,
  {x, y}]
numerical approximation float(exp(1)) 1/7 + 0. N[Exp[1]]
N[Exp[1], 10]
n(exp(1))
n(exp(1), digits=10)
expand polynomial expand((1+x)^5) Expand[(1 + x)^5] expand((1+x)^5)
factor polynomial factor(3 + 10*x + 9*x^2 + 2*x^3) Factor[3 + 10 x + 9 x^2 + 2 x^3] factor(3 + 10*x + 9*x^2 + 2*x^3)
add fractions ratsimp(a/b + c/d) Together[a/b + c/d]
decompose fraction Apart[(b c + a d)/(b d)]
calculus
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
differentation diff(x^3+x+3,x) P = x^3 + x + 3
P'
sin(x)'
D[x^3 + x + 3, x] x = var('x')
diff(x^3+x+3,x)
integration Integrate[x^3 + x + 3, x]
Integrate[x^3 + x + 3, {x, 0, 1}]
x = var('x')
integral(x^3+x+3,x)
integral(x^3+x+3,x,0,1)
find minimal value Minimize[Sqrt[a^2 + x^2] + Sqrt[(b - x)^2 + c^2], x]
number theory
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
number tests integerp(7)
primep(7)
IntegerQ[7]
PrimeQ[7]
rational test?
real test?
solve diophantine equation Solve[a^2 + b^2 == c^2 &&
a > 0 && a < 10 &&
b > 0 && b < 10 &&
c > 0 && c < 10,
{a, b, c}, Integers]
factorial 10! 10! 10! factorial(10)
binomial coefficient binomial(10,3) Binomial[10,3] binomial(10,3)
greatest common divisor gcd(14, 21) gcd(14, 21) GCD[14, 21] gcd(14, 21)
prime factors factor(84) returns [2,2; 3,1; 7,1]
factor(84)
returns {{2, 2}, {3, 1}, {7, 1}}
FactorInteger[84]
returns 2^2 * 3 * 7
factor(84)
Euler totient totient(256) EulerPhi[256] euler_phi(256)
vectors
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
vector literal same as array same as array vector([1,2,3])
element-wise arithmetic operators + - + - * /
adjacent lists are multiplied element-wise
+ - ?? ??
result of vector length mismatch error error raises TypeError
scalar multiplication 3 * [1,2,3]
[1,2,3] * 3
3 {1,2,3}
{1,2,3} 3
* may also be used
3 * vector([1,2,3])
vector([1,2,3]) * 3
dot product {1, 1, 1} . {2, 2, 2}
Dot[{1, 1, 1}, {2, 2, 2}]
vector([1,1,1]) * vector([2,2,2])
cross product Cross[{1, 0, 0}, {0, 1, 0}]
norms Norm[{1, 2, 3}, 1]
Norm[{1, 2, 3}]
Norm[{1, 2, 3}, Infinity]
matrices
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
literal or constructor A = [1, 2; 3, 4]
B = [4, 3; 2, 1]
A = {{1, 2}, {3, 4}}
B = {{4, 3}, {2, 1}}
A = matrix([[1,2],[3,4]])
B = matrix([[4,3],[2,1]])
zero, identity, ones, diagonal matrix ConstantArray[0, {3, 3}]
IdentityMatrix[3]
ConstantArray[1, {3, 3}]
DiagonalMatrix[{1, 2, 3}]
matrix(3,3,0)
matrix(3,3,1)
??
??
dimensions Length[A]
Length[A[[1]]]
len(A.rows())
len(A.columns())
element access A[1, 1] A[[1, 1]] A[0,0]
row access A[[1]] A[0,:]
column access A[[1]] A[:,0]
submatrix access # [[1]] & /@ A c = [[1,2,3],[4,5,6],[7,8,9]]
C = matrix(c)
C[0:2,0:2]
scalar multiplication 3 A
A 3
* can also be used
3 * A
A * 3
element-wise operators + - * /
adjacent matrices are multiplied element-wise
+ - none none
multiplication A . B A * B
kronecker product KroneckerProduct[A, B] from numpy import kron
kron(A,B)
comparison A == B
A != B
A == B
A != B
norms Norm[A, 1]
Norm[A]
Norm[A, Infinity]
Norm[A, "Frobenius"]
A.norm(1)
A.norm(2)
A.norm(Infinity)
A.norm('frob')
transpose Transpose[A] A.transpose()
conjugate transpose A = {{I, 2 I}, {3 I, 4 I}}
ConjugateTranspose[A]
A = matrix([[1*I,2*I],[3*I,4*I]])
A.conjugate().transpose()
inverse Inverse[A] A.inverse()
determinant matdet(A) Det[A] A.determinant()
trace trace(A) Tr[A] A.trace()
eigenvalues Eigenvalues[A] A.eigenvalues()
eigenvectors Eigenvectors[A] A.eigenvectors_right()
system of equations Solve[A. {x, y} == { 2, 3}, {x, y}] A.solve_right(vector([2,3]))
distributions
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
univariate charts
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
5039793334_f76edece33_m.jpg vertical bar chart BarChart[{7, 3, 8, 5, 5},
  ChartLegends->
    {"a","b","c","d","e"}]
bar_chart([7,3,8,5,5])
5039776078_cc38a4ff5f_m.jpg
horizontal bar chart
BarChart[{7, 3, 8, 5, 5}, BarOrigin -> Left]
5037819710_d932767cd5_m.jpg pie chart PieChart[{7, 3, 8, 5, 5}]
5037399669_13c8e585e0_m.jpg
stem-and-leaf plot
Needs["StatisticalPlots`"]
nd = NormalDistribution[0, 1]
n100 = RandomVariate[nd, 100]
StemLeafPlot[20 * n100]
5037415497_4c6fbfcab2_m.jpg histogram nd = NormalDistribution[0, 1]
Histogram[RandomReal[nd, 100], 10]
5037525393_7ac86e81c3_m.jpg box-and-whisker plot nd = NormalDistribution[0, 1]
n100 = RandomVariate[nd, 100]
BoxWhiskerChart[d]

ed = ExponentialDistribution[1]
e100 = RandomVariate[ed, 100]
u100 = RandomReal[1, 100]
d = {n100, e100, u100}
BoxWhiskerChart[d]
set chart title BoxWhiskerChart[data,
  PlotLabel -> "chart example"]
chart options PlotLabel -> "an example"

AxisLabel -> {"time", "distance"}
bivariate charts
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
5039126187_e340b3f4aa_m.jpg
stacked bar chart
d = {{7, 1}, {3, 2}, {8, 1},
  {5, 3}, {5, 1}}
BarChart[d, ChartLayout ->
  "Stacked"]
5267212089_a7749bbe3e_s.jpg scatter plot nd = NormalDistribution[0, 1]
rn = Function[RandomReal[nd]]
d = {rn[],rn[]} & /@ Range[1,50]
ListPlot[d]
d = [(gauss(0,1),gauss(0,1))
     for i in range(0,50)]
scatter_plot(d)
5267975488_2216ae147e_s.jpglinear regression line d = Table[{i,
  2 i + RandomReal[{-5, 5}]},
  {i, 0, 20}]
model = LinearModelFit[d, x, x]
Show[ListPlot[d],
  Plot[model["BestFit"],
    {x, 0, 20}]]
5267434941_f8537c9d26_s.jpg polygonal line plot f = Function[i, {i, rn[]}]
d = f /@ Range[1, 20]
ListLinePlot[d]
5268071368_75c3aee42e_t.jpg area chart d = {{7, 1, 3, 2, 8},
  {1, 5, 3, 5, 1}}
sd = {d[[1]], d[[1]] + d[[2]]}
ListLinePlot[sd, Filling ->
  {1 -> {Axis, LightBlue},
   2 -> {{1}, LightRed}}]
5268229340_0b96b5e223_s.jpg cubic spline d = Table[{i, RandomReal[nd]},
  {i, 0, 20}]
f = Interpolation[d,
  InterpolationOrder -> 3]
Show[ListPlot[d],
  Plot[f[x], {x, 0, 20}]]
5268208606_b745646ea6_s.jpg function plot plot2d(sin(x),[x,-4,4]); ploth(x=-4, 4, sin(x)) Plot[Sin[x], {x, -4, 4}] plot(sin(x), (x,-4,4))
5267567389_27a19429e4_s.jpg quantile-quantile plot nd = NormalDistribution[0, 1]
d1 = RandomReal[1, 50]
d2 = RandomReal[nd, 50]
QuantilePlot[d1, d2]
axis label plot2d(sin(x), [x,-4,4], [ylabel,"sine function"]); d = Table[{i, i^2}, {i, 1, 20}]
ListLinePlot[d,
  AxesLabel -> {x, x^2}]
logarithmic y-axis LogPlot[{x^2, x^3, x^4, x^5},
  {x, 0, 20}]
trivariate charts
maxima pari/gp mathematica sage
3d scatter plot nd = NormalDistribution[0,1]
d = RandomReal[nd, {50, 3}]
ListPointPlot3D[d]
5268191292_a75a367c39_s.jpg additional data set nd = NormalDistribution[0, 1]
x1 = RandomReal[nd, 20]
x2 = RandomReal[nd, 20]
ListLinePlot[{x1, x2}]
bubble chart nd = NormalDistribution[0,1]
d = RandomReal[nd, {50, 3}]
BubbleChart[d]
surface plot sinc(x) := sin(%pi*x)/(%pi*x);sinc(x) := sin(%pi*x)/(%pi*x);
plot3d(sinc(sqrt(x^2+y^2)),[x,-25,25],[y,-25,25]);
Plot3D[Sinc[Sqrt[x^2 + y^2]],
  {x, -25, 25},
  {y, -25, 25}]
__________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________

version used

The version of software used to check the examples in the reference sheet.

get version

How to determine the version of an installation.

command line repl

How to launch a command line read-eval-print loop for the language.

mathematica:

To create a command line REPL called math on Mac OS X, do the following:

cd /usr/local/bin
sudo ln -s /Applications/Mathematica\ Home\ Edition.app/Contents/MacOS/MathKernel math

sage:

Within the REPL, type notebook() to launch a web server which implements a GUI at http://localhost:8000.

interpreter

How to execute a script.

pari/gp

The shebang style notation doesn't work because GP doesn't recognize the hash tag # as the start of a comment.

The -q option suppresses the GP startup message.

After the script finishes it will drop the user into the REPL unless there is a quit statement in the script:

print("Hello, World!")

quit

documentation

How to get the documentation for a function.

statement separator

How statements are separated.

block delimiters

assignment

compound assignment operators

The compound assignment operators.

to-end-of-line comment

Character used to start a comment that goes to the end of the line.

null

null test

How to test if a value is null.

undefined variable access

Arithmetic and Logic

true and false

The boolean literals.

falsehoods

Values which evaluate to false in a conditional test.

logical operators

The boolean operators.

conditional expression

A conditional expression.

convert from string, to string

How to convert strings to numbers and vice versa.

comparison operators

The comparison operators.

arithmetic operators

The arithmetic operators.

sage:

^ is a synonym for **: both perform exponentiation.

integer division

How to compute the quotient of two integers.

float division

How to perform float division, even if the arguments are integers.

arithmetic functions

Some standard arithmetic functions.

sage:

In Python the arithmetic functions must be imported from the math module, but in Sage they are automatically available.

arithmetic truncation

Ways of converting a float to a nearby integer.

arithmetic decomposition

Ways of decomposing numbers into a simpler type of number.

Random Numbers

Strings

string literals

newline in literal

character access

chr and ord

length

concatenate

index of substring

extract substring

split

join

trim

case manipulation

sprintf

regex test

regex substitution

Arrays

array literal

mathematica:

The mathematica List data type provides indexed access and thus serves as an array data type.

must arrays be homogeneous

Can an array be created with elements of different type?

array data types

What data types are permitted in arrays.

array element access

index of array element

array length

array concatenation

sage:

Concatenation is only defined for arrays, not vectors. The vector type redefines the + operator to vector addition, and the vector type does not have a concat method.

map

filter

reduce

Other Containers

tuple literal

How to create a tuple, which we define as a fixed length, inhomogeneous list.

mathematica

Mathematica does not have a fixed length list, so the standard List data type is used for tuples as well.

tuple element access

How to access an element of a tuple.

tuple length

record literal

record member access

range

Functions

definition

invocation

function value

Execution Control

if

How to write a branch statement.

mathematica:

The 3rd argument (the else clause) of an If expression is optional.

while

How to write a conditional loop.

mathematica:

Do can be used for a finite unconditional loop:

Do[Print[foo], {10}]

for

How to write a C-style for statement.

break/continue

How to break out of a loop. How to jump to the next iteration of a loop.

raise exception

How to raise an exception.

handle exception

How to handle an exception.

finally block

How to write code that executes even if an exception is raised.

Environment and I/O

Libraries and Modules

Reflection

Algebra

Calculus

Number Theory

Vectors

vector literal

sage:

If the list provided to the vector constructor is not homogeneous, a TypeError exception will be raised.

element-wise arithmetic operators

scalar multiplication

dot product

cross product

norms

Matrices

literal or constructor

Literal syntax or constructor for creating a matrix.

mathematica:

Matrices are represented as lists of lists. No error is generated if one of the rows contains too many or two few elements. The MatrixQ predicate can be used to test whether a list of lists is matrix: i.e. all of the sublists contain numbers and are of the same length.

Matrices are displayed by Mathematica using list notation. To see a matrix as it would be displayed in mathematical notation, use the MatrixForm function.

sage:

Matrices are created by passing a vector of row vectors to the matrix constructor.

dimensions

How to get the dimensions of a matrix.

element access

How to access an element of a matrix. All languages described here follow the convention from mathematics of specifying the row index before the column index.

row access

How to access a row.

column access

How to access a column.

submatrix access

How to access a submatrix.

scalar multiplication

How to multiply a matrix by a scalar.

element-wise operators

Operators which act on two identically sized matrices element by element. Note that element-wise multiplication of two matrices is used less frequently in mathematics than matrix multiplication.

sage:

Element-wise multiplication or division can be achieved by converting the matrices to arrays:

from numpy import array
matrix(array(A) * array(B))
matrix(array(A) / array(B))

multiplication

How to multiply matrices. Matrix multiplication should not be confused with element-wise multiplication of matrices. Matrix multiplication in non-commutative and only requires that the number of columns of the matrix on the left match the number of rows of the matrix. Element-wise multiplication, by contrast, is commutative and requires that the dimensions of the two matrices be equal.

kronecker product

The Kronecker product is a non-commutative operation defined on any two matrices. If A is m x n and B is p x q, then the Kronecker product is a matrix with dimensions mp x nq.

comparison

How to test two matrices for equality.

norms

How to compute the 1-norm, the 2-norm, the infinity norm, and the frobenius norm.

sage:

A.norm() is the same as A.norm(2).

Distributions

univariate-charts Univariate Charts

A univariate chart can be used to display a list or array of numerical values. Univariate data can be displayed in a table with a single column or two columns if each numerical value is given a name. A multivariate chart, by contrast, is used to display a list or array of tuples of numerical values.

In order for a list of numerical values to be meaningfully displayed in a univariate chart, it must be meaningful to perform comparisons (<, >, =) on the values. Hence the values should have the same unit of measurement.

vertical bar chart

A chart which represents values with rectangular bars which line up on the bottom. It is a deceptive practice for the bottom not to represent zero, even if a y-axis with labelled tick marks or grid lines is provided. A cut in the vertical axis and one of the bars may be desirable if the cut value is a large outlier. Putting such a cut all of the bars near the bottom is a deceptive practice similar not taking to the base of the bars to be zero, however.

Another bad practice is the 3D bar chart. In such a chart heights are represented by the height of what appear to be three dimensional blocks. Such charts impress an undiscriminating audience but make it more difficult to make a visual comparison of the charted quantities.

mathematica

horizontal bar chart

A bar chart in which zero is the y-axis and the bars extend to the right.

pie chart

A bar chart displays values using the areas of circular sectors or equivalently, the lengths of the arcs of those sectors. A pie chart implies that the values are percentages of a whole. The viewer is likely to make an assumption about what the whole circle represents. Thus, using a pie chart to show the revenue of some companies in a line of business could be regarded as deceptive if there are other companies in the same line of business which are left out. The viewer may mistakenly assume the whole circle represents the total market.

If two values are close in value, people cannot determine visually which of the corresponding sectors in a pie chart is larger without the aid of a protractor. For this reason many consider bar charts superior to pie charts.

Many software packages make 3D versions of pie charts which communicate no additional information and in fact make it harder to interpret the data.

stem-and-leaf plot

histogram

box-and-whisker plot

set chart title

Bivariate Charts

stacked bar chart

Trivariate Charts

Maxima

Maxima Manual

Pari/GP

A Tutorial for Pari/GP (pdf)
Pari/GP Functions by Category

Mathematica

Mathematica Documentation Center
WolframAlpha

Sage

Sage Tutorial
Numpy and Scipy Documentation
ECL
Maxima Documentation
matplotlib Documentation

Sage is a suite of mathematical software which uses Python as its programming language. It is a free, open source alternative to Mathematica and Maple.

Sage is implemented with Python and pre-existing open source components. Some of these components are implemented in Python, others are implemented in C, C++, or Fortran and accessed via Cython, and others are implemented in Lisp or R and require an embedded interpreter.

The Sage distribution includes the Python libraries Numpy and Scipy. The functions in these libraries can be used from the Sage command-line or the Sage notebook if they are imported:

sage: import numpy
sage: numpy.zeros((3,3))
array([[ 0.,  0.,  0.],
       [ 0.,  0.,  0.],
       [ 0.,  0.,  0.]])

Sage uses Maxima for symbolic mathematics. Maxima is implemented in Common Lisp and Sage embeds an ECL interpreter. Both Common Lisp and Maxima can be invoked directly from the Sage command-line or the Sage notebook:

When performing symbolic mathematics, unknown variables must be declared as symbolic variables with var to avoid raising a NameError. The variable x is declared a symbolic variable by default.

var('y)
expand((1+y)^5)
sage: maxima(" integrate(x^2,x) ")
x^3/3
sage: lisp(" (+ 1 1) ")
2

Sage also embeds an R interpreter which can be invoked directly:

sage: r(" pnorm(3.0) ")
[1] 0.9986501

The sage function plot, which creates 2-D plots, uses matplotlib, a Python implementation of the MATLAB plot function. matplotlib can generate PNG, PostScript, or SVG output.

History

Macsyma
Maxima

One of the earliest computer algebra systems was Macsyma, developed at MIT from 1968 to 1982. Macsyma was written in Maclisp and ran on the PDP-10. A version which uses Common Lisp called Maxima was started in 1982, and became open source in 1998.

By 1988 the commercial computer algebra systems Mathematica and Maple were available.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License