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Matlab vs mathematica
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Ai52487963 #1 Nov 7, 2007

I'm trying to have a math program on

my computer for math-related things.
I've been attempting to use matlab for a
while now, but its far too confusing for
my tastes. Is mathematica any easier to
use?

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Midy1420 #2 Nov 7, 2007

like any program you will need to take time to get use to the notations but i found it to
be easier than matlab. also mathematica has an extensive help library that you can use if
you forget

PowerIso #3 Nov 7, 2007

Mathematica is easier to use. Like the

Midy said, it'll take time to get use to the
notation, but it's pretty good at telling
you what you did wrong.

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uart #4 Nov 9, 2007

Asking the question of matlab vs mathematica is a little like asking the question of
which one should I choose between Microsoft Word 10 and Motocross Madness 2. The
simple answer is that they are different programs intended for different purposes and
not directly comparable.
 Science Advisor
Mathematica is a algebra and symbolic maths package whereas matlab is predominately
a numerical computation package (though you can get a symbolic toolkit for matlab
which then gives it some of the features of a program like Maple or Mathematica).
Generally speaking though you'd use Matlab if you want to be able to manipulate lots of
numerical data easily and you'd use mathematica if you want an aid for symbolic
mathematical manipulations. Engineers for example would mostly tend to find Matlab
more useful than Mathematica, while it would normally be the other way around for a
Mathematician.
Last edited: Nov 9, 2007

vanesch #5 Nov 9, 2007

I use both, and as pointed out

previously, they have different scopes of
application. Matlab is much more
efficient when it comes to intensive
numerical calculation. However, I find
 Staff Emeritus
 Science Advisor Mathematica much richer, and even
 Gold Member
when I have to do not-too-intensive
numerical work, I prefer Mathematica.
But for the big number crunching,
Mathematica is simply not efficient
enough with computer ressources.

Mathematica has however, a longer "learning curve" IMO. But once you master it, it is
terribly powerful.

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If it is a matter of budget, I'd go for mathematica, because there's no clone available,

while there are good free clones of matlab (scilab for instance).

DH #6 Nov 9, 2007

vanesch said:
↑

If it is a matter of budget, I'd go for mathematica, because there's no clone available, while there are
good free clones of matlab (scilab for instance).

 Staff Emeritus There is Maxima (SourceForge link), based on a 1982 version of Macsyma. Macysyma
 Science Advisor
 Insights Author is the granddaddy of Mathematica and Maple. Sorry, I haven't tried it.

Matlab provides a symbolic toolkit powered by the Maple engine. Unfortunately, the
integration is not clean (and that is saying it nicely). Do the Matlab clones provide a
symbolic toolkit? To date I have not been impressed by the Matlab clones.

leon1127 #7 Nov 9, 2007

D H said:
↑

There is Maxima (SourceForge link), based on a 1982 version of Macsyma. Macysyma is the
granddaddy of Mathematica and Maple. Sorry, I haven't tried it.

Matlab provides a symbolic toolkit powered by the Maple engine. Unfortunately, the integration is not
clean (and that is saying it nicely). Do the Matlab clones provide a symbolic toolkit? To date I have not
been impressed by the Matlab clones.

I have tried maxima before. It does give you a feel of what symbolic package is.
However it feature is nowhere near maple or mathematica. I personally prefer
mathematica because it is TOO POWERFUL compare to anyhting else on earth

Chris Hillman #8 Nov 9, 2007

Sage

I've tried Maxima and it can perform various tasks quite well, but in general the user
interface is much less well developed than what the OP might be used to, and the power
 Science Advisor
lags far behind Mathematica and Maple. The syntax of Maxima is much closer to Maple
than Mathematica (a good thing, since most observers agree that Mathematica syntax is
not only harder to learn, it leads to some real problems in coding).

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Matlab, Mathematica, and Maple are all highly developed, incredibly powerful and
useful environments for various types of symbolic and numerical computations. As
already noted, they have different and to some extent complementary strengths and
weaknesses. For example, I generally prefer Maple to Mathematica, but there is no
denying that Mathematica produces prettier print-quality graphics!

It might be worth mentioning for benefit of lurkers that in addition to Maxima, which is
a general symbolic computation environment and which is available for free, there are
quite a few specialized packages like GAP and Macaulay 2 which are free, easy to
install, and extremely powerful. Noone would say that GAP syntax is particularly
enchanting, but it is standard in computational algebra due to its power and the care
with which it has been developed over so many years. Macaulay 2 has a syntax I like so
much that I recommend it to CS students just to see an example of syntax which
mathematicians like.

SAGE is an open source initiative led by William Stein (Mathematics, University of

Washington) and funded by various leading institutions in the mathematical sciences,
but it is hugely ambitious so it always needs more developers! SAGE aims to ultimately
provide a user interface comparable to Maple which enables users to run commands in
Maple, Mathematica, MATLAB, MuPAD, Magma, Axiom, GAP, GP/PARI,
Macaulay2, Maxima, Octave, and Singular, while freely using python scripts. See this
page for a more complete list. As I understand it, there is some hope that development
of SAGE might revive development of Maxima, which currently lags far behind Maple
by virtue of lacking such powerful commands as casesplit and such useful packages as
Groebner. I think this initiative is extremely promising; if it succeeds it will
fundamentally alter how mathematicians work and play (for the better, I think). To
mention just one point, working mathematicians are probably well aware, for example,
of the desirability of facile checking of Mathematica and Maple results against each
other.

Anyone interested in making financial contributions or contributing to code can look

here. I myself am unaffiliated with SAGE but I am seriously interested in trying to set
up a "Sage Wiki" somewhat like Dispersive Wiki, with the goals of

providing a discussion forum for SAGE developers around the world,

providing tutorials for anyone interested in learning to use components of SAGE
such as Maple, GAP, etc.,
promoting the project to the world at large.

Note that SAGE-2.8.12 is available for installation and beta testing.

(Confusingly, there is a well known physics experiment also called SAGE and also run

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at UW, and there is a well known grant program also called SAGE and also
admininstered at UW. All three programs are distinct!)

BTW, a relevant conference ("camp meeting"?) which starts tommorrow (!!!!) is here.
Last edited: Nov 9, 2007

neutrino #9 Dec 8, 2007

Chris Hillman said:

↑

SAGE is an open source initiative led by William Stein (Mathematics, University of Washington) and
funded by various leading institutions in the mathematical sciences, but it is hugely ambitious so it
always needs more developers! SAGE aims to ultimately provide a user interface comparable to Maple
which enables users to run commands in Maple, Mathematica, MATLAB, MuPAD, Magma, Axiom,
GAP, GP/PARI, Macaulay2, Maxima, Octave, and Singular, while freely using python scripts. See this
page for a more complete list. As I understand it, there is some hope that development of SAGE might
revive development of Maxima, which currently lags far behind Maple by virtue of lacking such
powerful commands as casesplit and such useful packages as Groebner. I think this initiative is
extremely promising; if it succeeds it will fundamentally alter how mathematicians work and play (for
the better, I think). To mention just one point, working mathematicians are probably well aware, for
example, of the desirability of facile checking of Mathematica and Maple results against each other.

Anyone interested in making financial contributions or contributing to code can look here. I myself am
unaffiliated with SAGE but I am seriously interested in trying to set up a "Sage Wiki" somewhat like
Dispersive Wiki, with the goals of

providing a discussion forum for SAGE developers around the world,

providing tutorials for anyone interested in learning to use components of SAGE such as Maple,
GAP, etc.,
promoting the project to the world at large.

Note that SAGE-2.8.12 is available for installation and beta testing.

(Confusingly, there is a well known physics experiment also called SAGE and also run at UW, and there
is a well known grant program also called SAGE and also admininstered at UW. All three programs are
distinct!)

BTW, a relevant conference ("camp meeting"?) which starts tommorrow (!!!!) is here.

It has made it to /., so everyone will know about it now. The site and its mirrors are
quite slow, so I haven't read much about it. If anyone's interested, I managed to reach to
the download page (32-bit Linux).

k3N70n #10 Dec 8, 2007

When I'm working on maths I have Matlab, Mathematica, and Maple all going. It's hard
to be quite proficient at all of them so I just use what I know from each. I like

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mathematica a lot, if I were to choose only one, because the documentation seems the
most extensive and accessible. Just my $0.02

Mindscrape #11 Dec 8, 2007

I think it comes down to solely what you want

Symbolic/Analytic - Mathematica
Numerical - Matlab

Don't get one or the other because one is easier to use, get it for the right purpose.
People with programming experience would probably say Matlab is easier than
Mathematica, while people without might have an easier time with Mathematica.
Basically anything you would see in a course, such as Calculus, Linear Algebra, and
others of the sort, you can use Mathematica for. But if you want to look at bifurcations
of a nonlinear pendulum, for example, you don't (at least I don't) even want to look at
Mathematica.

Chris Hillman #12 Dec 8, 2007

Hi, neutrino, thanks for the link, which led me to

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/22768
The comments had me :rofl:

 Science Advisor

chroot #13 Dec 8, 2007

Of course, we haven't even mentioned Mathcad, which is one of my personal favorites.

It does almost anything that Mathematica does (at least in terms of what I need), it's
pretty, and it's significantly easier to learn than Mathematica.

- Warren
 Staff Emeritus
 Science Advisor
 Gold Member

k3N70n #14 Dec 9, 2007

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holy crap! I just realized how expensive these programs are.

@chroot
thanks I'll try that out

chroot #15 Dec 9, 2007

Most of these programs have student editions that are reasonably priced (or about as
"reasonable" as a textbook).

- Warren

 Staff Emeritus
 Science Advisor
 Gold Member

calcisforlovers #16 Dec 9, 2007

mathematica rules. maple is garbage, just as an aside.

Gib Z #17 Dec 11, 2007

I've only ever used the trial of Mathematicia because my parents don't reckon its worth
$150 :( It was definitely powerful, although because of the Nature of its computations,
some symbolic expressions were more complicated than they needed to be. That can be
said of any symbolic math program though.
 Homework Helper

ks_physicist #18 Dec 11, 2007

chroot said:
↑

Most of these programs have student editions that are reasonably priced (or about as "reasonable" as a
textbook).

- Warren

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Some of them are pretty asinine with their treatment of "Student Edition" licenses.

For instance, Wolfram donated a student edition of Mathematica 3.0 to a conference I

presented at just after I finished my undergrad. My presentation took second or third
place, and won the copy of Mathematica 3.0.

Which I then could not register, because (having graduated) I was no longer a student.

Which they balked at registering when I was a grad student, but had a T/A so I wasn't
"full time" to them.

Which they assert I cannot use if I am not registered as a full time student.

So it sits, on a shelf, gathering dust.

ETA: I'd love to try Mathematica now, but even as a teacher and a grad student, I'm
only eligible for the $1000 license, which is about 5% of my gross salary. I can't justify
that when I have no exact pressing reason to need the software. $250 I could justify as a
"toy".

Plus, I'm headed toward a primarily Linux home office...if I bought the Windows
Mathematica, would they let me switch to Linux, or would I have to buy a new license?
Last edited: Dec 11, 2007

X=7 #19 Dec 11, 2007

ks_physicist said:
↑

Which I then could not register, because (having graduated) I was no longer a student.

Oh, the irony!

Another numeric computation one that hasn't been mentioned is the über-cruncher
program IDL!:surprised

Dale #20 Dec 12, 2007

Die-hard Mathematica fan here. I wouldn't even consider any package without symbolic
capabilities. You can just do so much more symbolically than you can if you are
constrained to numerical routines.

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 Insights Author
I always found Maple very unstable, and even more unstable when called through
Matlab. But that was years ago and it may be more stable now.
Staff: Mentor

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