Mathematica software - anyone have it? or use it?

[otispunkmeyer]

just been using the wolfram integrator

http://integrals.wolfram.com/index.jsp

its pretty neat, so i decided to check out their store. they have alot of stuff on there that looks very useful indeed.

student price for mathematica is £80, which is hardly student cheap IMO, and they have what appears to be a supremely useful mechanical systems add on for a further £35

so, is it worth the outlay or what?

i see that they have annual and semester based subscriptions that are much cheaper but, if i find the product useful, ill want to have a proper copy to keep and ill end up paying them £35 more than i should

 

[darthsidious]

I personally don't use Mathematica, but people I know consider it to be useful. I's nice if you want to do analytical integration and stuff. If you want to do matrix stuff/numerical analysis, you might want to consider MATLAB, which is better suited for that kind of stuff.

And if you're still at a college, poke around your university's computing resources. Many universities have free access to these software packages on their computer networks, and some even get free lisences for students.For example, here at MIT, you can use Matlab, Maple, Mathematica and a host of other programs for free on the local computing clusters, and you can get Matlab free for download on your personal PC's.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: darthsidious
I personally don't use Mathematica, but people I know consider it to be useful. I's nice if you want to do analytical integration and stuff. If you want to do matrix stuff/numerical analysis, you might want to consider MATLAB, which is better suited for that kind of stuff.

And if you're still at a college, poke around your university's computing resources. Many universities have free access to these software packages on their computer networks, and some even get free lisences for students.For example, here at MIT, you can use Matlab, Maple, Mathematica and a host of other programs for free on the local computing clusters, and you can get Matlab free for download on your personal PC's.

we get matlab and maple free on the network computers

we had to pay £25 I think for a student copy of matlab

no mathematica though. the mech systems 2 addon does look very useful

 

[DrPizza]

I just ordered it for next year in my classroom (high school). I've used it in the past and believe that I can turn it into something extremely useful for teaching.

 

[RedArmy]

I'd rather use MatLab then Mathematica, but that's just me.

 

[dug777]

My better half, and all my eng/maths mates used matlab at uni iirc. It does some neat tricks

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: dug777
My better half, and all my eng/maths mates used matlab at uni iirc. It does some neat tricks

i think i remember you saying she'd done matlab for over 5 years?

damn i wish i knew someone like that, im pretty poor at coding and computer languages as it is, i sometimes find matlab difficult to use, its not really much help when i cant use it properly. honestly, the actual maths isnt the problem...... getting matlab to do it though is a different story.

and the lecturers we have for matlab are just awful. one speaks in monotone, the other is his post grad apprentice from croatia.... he speaks in monotone and a thick accent and limited english, its very hard to understand what he's trying to put across and the both of them send you straight to sleep.

are there any good books for use with matlab? i already have matlab, and if its just as good as mathematica then i'd rather just invest a little more into matlab since ihave already begun using it.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
just been using the wolfram integrator

http://integrals.wolfram.com/index.jsp

its pretty neat, so i decided to check out their store. they have alot of stuff on there that looks very useful indeed.

student price for mathematica is £80, which is hardly student cheap IMO, and they have what appears to be a supremely useful mechanical systems add on for a further £35

so, is it worth the outlay or what?

i see that they have annual and semester based subscriptions that are much cheaper but, if i find the product useful, ill want to have a proper copy to keep and ill end up paying them £35 more than i should

never even though its on all my school computers. i tried it once never got round to figuring it out. check if your school offers some discount on it or if it installed on lab computer so you can check it out before buying.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer

Originally posted by: dug777
My better half, and all my eng/maths mates used matlab at uni iirc. It does some neat tricks

i think i remember you saying she'd done matlab for over 5 years?

damn i wish i knew someone like that, im pretty poor at coding and computer languages as it is, i sometimes find matlab difficult to use, its not really much help when i cant use it properly. honestly, the actual maths isnt the problem...... getting matlab to do it though is a different story.

and the lecturers we have for matlab are just awful. one speaks in monotone, the other is his post grad apprentice from croatia.... he speaks in monotone and a thick accent and limited english, its very hard to understand what he's trying to put across and the both of them send you straight to sleep.

are there any good books for use with matlab? i already have matlab, and if its just as good as mathematica then i'd rather just invest a little more into matlab since ihave already begun using it.

Apparently she has one on it, but she says it sucks.

Find some nerds and get them to teach you There's probably loads of online help for it too...

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer

Originally posted by: dug777
My better half, and all my eng/maths mates used matlab at uni iirc. It does some neat tricks

i think i remember you saying she'd done matlab for over 5 years?

damn i wish i knew someone like that, im pretty poor at coding and computer languages as it is, i sometimes find matlab difficult to use, its not really much help when i cant use it properly. honestly, the actual maths isnt the problem...... getting matlab to do it though is a different story.

and the lecturers we have for matlab are just awful. one speaks in monotone, the other is his post grad apprentice from croatia.... he speaks in monotone and a thick accent and limited english, its very hard to understand what he's trying to put across and the both of them send you straight to sleep.

are there any good books for use with matlab? i already have matlab, and if its just as good as mathematica then i'd rather just invest a little more into matlab since ihave already begun using it.

Apparently she has one on it, but she says it sucks.

Find some nerds and get them to teach you There's probably loads of online help for it too...

yeah the manual that came with it also sucks

 

[VTHodge]

I used both MatLab and Mathematica in college (it's been a few years though). When I was first using them, I liked Mathematica a lot becuase it was reasonably intuitive and had a pretty good UI. After some practice, though, I really preferred MatLab. I guess it depends on how often you are going to use it and how much you are willing to learn about the software.