Maxima, Maple, Mathematica



Dave Feustel wrote:
> I'm wondering how easily Maple scripts can be converted to run in Maxima.
>   
Some scripts can be run unchanged.
for example, x+x
 or
integrate(log(x),x)

Others cannot be converted in any sensible fashion because they depend 
on commands that exist only in Maple, or depend on the Maple data 
structures.

> Can the process be easily automated?
>   
The easy part can be easily automated.  The hard part would require 
rewriting Maple in Maxima or Lisp, not easy.
Same goes for Maple->Mathematica, Mathematica->Maxima, Maxima -> Maple, etc.

People who are "selling" the OpenMath or MathML ideas would like you to 
believe this translation is all easy, but they are
either mistaken or implicitly downgrading all of these systems to their 
least common identical features, like x+x.

RJF