I suspect the argument for Tcl is based on the supposition that Tcl displays
runs pretty much the same on windows and linux and ..., Introducing Python
would make sense only if it provides the same and better and can replace in
all ways the Tcl stuff. Having BOTH python and Tcl seems like unnecessary
complication to me. But then maybe I'm being old fashioned, and real
programmers use as many different development tools as possible.
If your main program is written in python, and it calls maxima and
matplotlib, then it may make sense to write additional programs in python.
This seems to be the case with SAGE.
If your main program is written in lisp, it usually makes sense to write
additional programs in lisp. If there are facilities in the python language
that are not available to programmers in lisp, I would be curious to know
what they might be. If there are libraries that programmers have put
together for the use of python, (say for fast numerics, or
system-independent graphics, probably NOT written in python) then (some?
most?) lisp systems can read in that library. I've read files in the python
e.g. gmpy (gmp.py?) directly into lisp and run the subroutines after a
two-line declaration per subroutine.
On windows there should be more-or-less direct access to stuff like OLE,
COM, .NET from lisp, as well as almost any library than can be called by C,
C++, Fortran. but not every lisp supports that, [and not everyone is using
windows!]
I suspect the argument for Tcl is based on the supposition that Tcl runs
pretty much the same on windows and linux and ...,
> -----Original Message-----
> From: maxima-admin at math.utexas.edu
> [mailto:maxima-admin at math.utexas.edu] On Behalf Of David Joyner
> Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2006 8:17 AM
> To: sen1 at math.msu.edu
> Cc: maxima; David Joyner; William Stein
> Subject: Re: [Maxima] plotting programming
>
> sen1 at math.msu.edu wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I noticed that at least some of the plotting routines are
> written in
> > tcl.
> >
> > These days, is that the best choice?
> >
> > Would it be better to take something like "python," and try
> to write
> > scripts (say, incorporating matplotlib or some such thing), for new
> > plotting programs?
>
>
> Indeed, this is what SAGE does (sage.scipy.org), which
> includes maxima and matplotlib. For example, to plot the
> inverse Jacobi function sn^(-1), type
>
> sage: ijsn = lambda x: inverse_jacobi("sn",x,1/2)
> sage: P= plot(ijsn,0,1)
>
> Now to view this, just type show(P). Further
> details:http://sage.scipy.org/sage/doc/html/ref/module-sage.fu
> nctions.special.html
>
> Maybe I'm not understanding things right but it seems your
> suggestion to use matplotlib would force maxima to distribute
> python. Is that part of your suggestion?
>
> >
> > It seems to me that there is much more current activity in
> developing
> > graphing capabilities, e.g. 3d, in the python community.
> >
> > Perhaps a good solution would be to open up a plot window which one
> > could interact with to read data from maxima and use
> whatever external
> > plotting program one wished.
> >
> > Any opinions, comments, suggestions would be appreciated.
> >
> > -sen
> >
> >
> >
>
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