wxMaxima — The Complete Guide: Free Symbolic Mathematics for Engineers and Students
wxMaxima is a notebook-style graphical interface to the Maxima computer algebra system, one of the oldest of its kind. It solves problems symbolically — you get a formula, not just a number — and suits deriving expressions, checking hand calculations and learning.
wxMaxima — Symbolic Algebra
Maxima Project / wxMaxima
Graphical front end to the Maxima computer algebra system — derivatives, integrals and equations in mathematical notation.
Get it from the vendorWhat it is used for
- Differentiation and integration — including definite integrals and limits.
- Solving equations — linear and non-linear systems, analytically.
- Differential equations — closed-form solutions of ordinary equations, for example a beam on an elastic foundation or an RLC circuit.
- Matrices — determinants, inverses and eigenvalues symbolically.
- Series and approximations — Taylor series and linearisation.
- Plots — 2D and 3D, through gnuplot.
What to know
The syntax differs from MATLAB and takes an hour to get used to. For fast numerical work on large matrices, GNU Octave or Python (which has the SymPy library for symbolic work) is better. To combine symbolic calculation inside a document — GNU TeXmacs.
Maxima
Maxima Project
Computer algebra — analytical solving, differentiation and integration, simplification and matrices.
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GNU Octave
GNU Project
Numerical computing in MATLAB-compatible syntax — matrices, equations, signals and plots.
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Python
Python Software Foundation
The language behind most modern engineering computation, and its full ecosystem.
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GNU TeXmacs
GNU TeXmacs project
A WYSIWYG scientific document editor with maths, and direct sessions in Maxima, Octave and Python.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
wxMaxima is the most convenient free tool for symbolic mathematics, and a good alternative to Mathematica and Maple for most student and engineering needs.