symbolic integtn/diffn of Maxima best of any open source system??

A few my cents to capabilities of the modern CAS. Look at the nice paper by 
Michael Wester at http://math.unm.edu/~wester/cas_review.html


> C Y wrote:
> > --- seberino@spawar.navy.mil wrote:
> >>Is Maxima by far the most powerful and advanced
> >>open source computer algebra system out there
> >>for symbolic integration and symbolic differentiation???
> >
> > Differentiation is actually, if I understand correctly,
> > much easier than integrateion - many systems can do it.
>
> This is quite true.  There are some subtle issues about
> notation for partial derivatives, and many issues about
> simplification to nice forms, but the basic idea of
> symbolic differentiation is so simple that a page of
> code does most of it in a suitable language. (for example,
> lisp).
>
> > Integration is where the real test lies.  Maxima, as far
> > as I know, can pretty much hold its own against Maple and
> > Mathematica in that department, and for some tasks is better.
>
> Both Maple and Mathematica have improved substantially
> and the commercial version of Macsyma has also made many
> improvements on the free version, in this area. This is
> especially true for definite integration and special
> functions.
>
> > I don't know of any other open source program which can
> > make that claim.  (Just had a thought - does anyone know
> > what Axiom's capabilities are in that department?)
>
> Some of Axiom's capabilities in indefinite symbolic
> integration of algebraic functions are, I think, superior.
>
> >>If yes then what is the next best thing that
> >>comes closest???
> >
> > Um.  Symbolically the only other general purpose systems
> > I'm aware of are Yacas and Axiom.  Yacas is a nice system
> > but it lacks many of the features of more mature systems.
> > IIRC its integration is very lightweight still.  Axiom I
> > don't know much about really.  It is also old and mature,
> > but I don't know what its integration abilities are like.
> >
> > There are programs which focus on specific areas of math
> > such as Pari, Gap, Singular and several others.  Comparing
> > more focused packages or numerical packages to Maxima is
> > kind of pointless, since the purpose of each is different.
> >
> >>I believe the web page says this code has been
> >>improved since the 1970s??? I nearly fell out
> >>of my chair when I read that.
> >
> > Most of the code base of Maxima was written in the late
> > sixties/early seventies.  There have been various
> > improvements over the years but most of the true heavy
> > lifting was done then.  I also find that cool - as far as
> > I know we've got some of the oldest useful code in the
> > open source world.
> >
> >>...And GPL'd too! Someone please thank the person
> >>that pulled that off for me. :)
> >
> > Dr. Bill Schelter.  Unfortunately he passed away, but his
> > legacy lives on in the Maxima and GCL projects.  He was
> > the sole maintainer of both from 1982 til 2001.  He is
> > the one who obtained permission to distribute the code -
> > we wouldn't be here without him.
> >
> > CY
>
> The GPLing came in 2 phases.  The first was to force
> MIT to put a copy in a library run by the Dept. of
> Energy.  They were forced to do this in 1982, (on my
> insistence).  This did not make it public, since the
> DOE required a payment for a copy, and on MIT's insistence
> the copy could not be legally re-copied or transferred.
> This was so MIT could make money on the technology
> transfer to Symbolics, the first "owner" of Macsyma.
> The DOE sub-agency running the library "NESC" went
> out of business; Bill Schelter was instrumental in
> getting a letter out of DOE that made the code free.
> Schelter also made many improvements, including putting
> the source code into a common lisp framework.
> RJF
>
>
>
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