math wizs

[alphatarget1]

Which one do y'all prefer? I have only used mathematica so far but I'm tempted to get a student version for my PC for 55 bucks.

 

[Goosemaster]

matlab?

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
matlab?

or bust!

 

[alphatarget1]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
matlab?

matlab is kind of different though... Like they're used for different purposes.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: alphatarget1

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
matlab?

matlab is kind of different though... Like they're used for different purposes.

thermonuclear detonation calculations

er...calculus I

<--interviewed for a company that did that...that was hilarious....obviously I didn't get that

I was expecting basic calculus expressions....boy was I wrong

 

[ed21x]

debate on another forum

I personally like Matlab just because matrices are so much easier to create and manipulate.

 

[Hyperlite]

i F*cking hate maple.

 

[gar3555]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
matlab?

FTW...

as long as you're not doing any kind of looping functions...then you might as well call me tomorrow.

 

[alphatarget1]

Originally posted by: Hyperlite
i F*cking hate maple.

why? like what don't you like about it?

 

[esun]

Both are good. Don't get MATLAB, it won't do what you want (it's great for other things, but doesn't have a CAS). You should get whichever you are more comfortable using, since that will define your productivity much, much more than anything else. They are both very powerful, so unless you're doing some very specific things requiring some specific feature, both should suite you.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Matlab is a no no. You use it for a few engineering things, but trust me, when we do the crazy math stuff in quantum mechanics, we still go to Mathematica.

 

[theeedude]

Matlab FTMFW

 

[WildHorse]

Read the comparison table at the BOTTOM of this Arachnophilia web page.

I have Mathematica. It's fantastically powerful, almost hard to believe what it's capable of, but it's also significant work learning to use it. It takes a while to get the syntax down.

Basically, learing to use Mathematica is a project in iteself.

There are plenty of free Mathematica tutorials on the web, and also lots of free workbooks you can download and use for specialized things.

I haven't used Maple so can't comment on any comparison.

 

[Xylitol]

Mathematica

 

[pradeep1]

I've used both, and I prefer Mathematica.

 

[George P Burdell]

What do you want to use it for?

 

[Eeezee]

Numerical Recipes in C

Mathematica is awful. I've never used Maple, but it can't possibly be worse than Mathematica.

Edit: Also, C is free whereas Mathematica is not (even student versions cost like $80). Is Maple free?

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

MATLAB!!!

 

[nccr]

If you want a symbolic solver or closed form solutions, definitely mathematica (math majors). (I haven't used maple before)
Ease of programming and numerical solutions (think engineers) - matlab.
Working with 'dirty' data and extremely powerful statistical packages (stats majors) - R.

I think each program definitely has packages that allow them to work outside of their domain, but I prefer the native solution. So, rather than using mathematica's statistical packages, I just use R instead.

 

[IEC]

Mathematica if you're really using it for pure math.

Engineering, Matlab.

 

[Fenixgoon]

not maple, sweet jesus christ. the syntax in that is AWFUL even for basic things


another vote for matlab from me. as people have said, it rocks for data work, but symbolics are where mathematica and maple do a lot (matlab does have plugins for symbolic math though)

 

[Born2bwire]

Matlab.

 

[interchange]

emacs or vi?

My vote is for mathematica (and emacs).

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

http://futurekoen.ytmnd.com/

Can you believe it, you've already finished C.... you think you can do Matlab?

 

[Tiamat]

maple, matlab, mathcad, are all programs that I have used. Wolfram's Integrator is very helpful for integration.

They all have their ups and downs.