Greetings, and a question about sequences.

On Fri, Aug 29, 2003 at 08:34:57AM -0500, Barton Willis wrote:
> To build a list, use makelist
> 
> (C1) makelist(2*i,i,1,3);
> (D1)                               [2, 4, 6]
> (C2) 
> 
> If your professor uses Matlab, I suggest that you also  use learn and use 
> Matlab. That way, you'll understand 
> what goes on in class and you can readily get help when you're stuck. 
> After you finish your Matlab 
> assignments, try working them with Maxima. 
> 
> Barton 

Definitely a good idea.  I wanted to learn Matlab so I would know it,
and use Maxima because it is open source.  I would always rather use
open source if possible, for the principle of it.  I used Matlab
yesterday morning for the first time, and had no problem.  My feeling
is that if you can use one such system, you can learn another quickly;
similar to the way you can learn a new programming language quickly if
you already know one.

On Fri, Aug 29, 2003 at 08:29:00AM -0700, Richard Fateman wrote:
> Probably your professor (and maybe you) thought that Matlab and Maxima were
> similar, and that it wouldn't matter which one you used.  In fact they 
> are quite
> different, and I suggest that you use Matlab, as required by your 
> instructor.

I see now that they are more different than I at first thought.
 
> There is also a symbolic toolkit in Matlab which may be available to
> you and your class: this is a link to parts of Maple.  So there is
> some relationship between Matlab and some computer algebra stuff,
> but really not the point I'm trying to make.

That toolkit is available in the version at school.
 
>  If you want to learn maxima and lisp, that's fine.  But do your
>  assignments in Matlab.  If you irritate your instructor and also
>  get a poor grade in calculus, you won't have to worry about
>  computer algebra systems.  All you'll have to do is remember to say
>  "Do you want fries with that?".

LOL.  Point taken.  I definitely intend to do the assignments in
Matlab.  We are supposed to work in groups to complete the assignments
because they are pretty lengthy, and it would be rather confusing for
the other's in my group to be using Matlab, and me to be using
something else (regardless of it's suitability to the problems).

I hope that I can still learn Maxima, Octave, and even Scilab along
the way, though.

Thank y'all again,
Ben

-- 
Ben Logan
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