MAXIMA!

MAXIMA

Computer Algebra System

          Maxima is a system for the manipulation of symbolic and numerical expressions, including differentiation, integration, Taylor series, Laplace transforms, ordinary differential equations, systems of linear equations, polynomials, and sets, lists, vectors, matrices, and tensors. Maxima yields high precision numeric results by using exact fractions, arbitrary precision integers, and variable precision floating point numbers. Maxima can plot functions and data in two and three dimensions.

History:

          Maxima is based on a 1982 version of Macsyma, which was developed at MIT with funding from the United States Department of Energy and other government agencies. A version of Macsyma was maintained by Bill Schelter from 1982 until his death in 2001. In 1998, Schelter obtained permission from the Department of Energy to release his version under the GPL. That version, now called Maxima, is maintained by an independent group of users and developers. Maxima does not include any of the many modifications and enhancements made to the commercial version of Macsyma during 1982–1999. Though the core functionality remains similar, code depending on these enhancements may not work on Maxima, and bugs which were fixed in Macsyma may still be present in Maxima, and vice-versa.

Implementation:

print("Hello, world!")$ /* Hello World Implementation in Maxima */

a*x^4+b*x^3+c*x^2+d*x+e=0;
solve(%, x); /* Solving a Equation: */

Interface:

          Various graphical user interfaces are available for Maxima. wxMaxima is a popular cross-platform GUI using wxWidgets. Starting with version 4.4, the KDE Software Compilation contains Cantor-- which can interface with Maxima (along with Sage, R, and Kalgebra).^[2] The GNU TeXmacs and LyX mathematical editor programs can be used to provide an interactive GUI for Maxima, as can Sage. Other options include the Imaxima front end, as well as an Emacs and Xemacs interaction mode which is activated by Imaxima.

Group's Insights:

          Maxima is taught in UPLB to CMSC150 students and it is used to program problems regarding systems of equations and stuffs. It is like a super calculator that has the ability to solve various difficult problems that a normal scientific calculator cannot. -Rainier Punzalan

          Maxima is really helpful to students especially in CMSC 150. It can solve the unknowns of n-equations,plot the points easily, modify larger polynomials, and others. It can also be used by   anybody because it is an open-source. -Bambi Rivera

          Maxima is very helpful in computing mathematical functions or equations, especially on those that are difficult to compute manually. -Chester Emia

Our CMSC 150 instuctor's insight:

          "You can easily edit your code with maxima because it is compatible with any text editor.  In terms of its functionalities, it can render 3-dimensional graphs so it is more advantageous than other computer algebra system. It also has an user interface. We used Maxima as the language to be used by our students in CMSC150 because it is the best applicable system with the exercises and problem sets we give and discuss. "

                                                                                                      -Ma'am Maan Clariño

References:

-http://maxima.sourceforge.net/

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxima_(software)

Group Members:

- Rainier Paolo Punzalan

- Bambi Erika Rivera

- Chester Emia

CMSC 124 T-8L