On Dec 2, 2009, at 10:22 AM, Robert Holmes wrote:
Must admit I've never been able to get along with Sage. I suspect
that the world is divided into those who like Matlab vs those who
like Mathematica...
Well, for me the huge advantage is that it bundles into a huge
distribution all of the python/cython/<name your open source math
here> distributions. I've had lots of headaches installing python
libraries, and sage solves this nicely.
A second advantage is that it is slowly but surely including all the
other open source systems under one integrated system .. and using a
single language for all of them (python). I get Octave, R, GnuPlot,
etc "languages" mixed up and its nice to have python mapped onto them
all. It even maps in mathematica for those who'd like a python
interface to it.
http://sagemath.blogspot.com/2007/12/sage-mathematica-and-hiking-to-vultee.html
Which would you say Sage is like? Matlab or Mathematica?
I've mainly used the terminal with the sage/python interactive
sessions. Great for a calculator on steroids. But I do use the
workbook interface on the web for graphics and sharing with friends.
BTW: This is a useful post on William Stein's old blog:
http://sagemath.blogspot.com/2007/12/why-isnt-sage-just-part-of-octave.html
P.S. Just been playing with Octave and PSPP as the open-source near-
equivalents to Matlab and SPSS. Both surprisingly featureful!
Octave is still being worked on, I'm pleased to see. Apparently
Mathlab for the rest of us. I.e. those of us not needing the add-
ons. And naturally Sage has an interface to Octave. It does not
appear to have PSPP, but it does have R.
-- Owen
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