If one creates an application with WebMathematica, the user of the application does not need to know any Mathematica code at all. For a trivual example, the loan calculator
http://library.wolfram.com/webMathematica/Business/Loan.jsp This one is a bit more interesting, and as an electronics engineer I did not know this would lead to chaos http://library.wolfram.com/webMathematica/Engineering/Circuit.jsp In each case, one just needs to enter numbers, press an 'Evaluate' button, and the user does not need to know WebMathematica is used. (Of course, the Wolfram Research pages make that clear, but I believe if you use the professional version of webMathematica, which is an additional cost over the free version supplied with a Mathematica license, even that can be hidden). Can similar be done in Sage? What got me thinking about this was a post on a mailing list by someone asking how to convert powers in Watts to dBm. The dBm, which is power referenced to 1 mW, is a common unit used among radio frequency engineers. In fact, it is more common that Watts! The conversion from dBm to Watts is very simple, and various online calculators for this exist, such as this one, which I assume is written in php. http://www.terabeam.com/support/calculations/watts-dbm.php I wonder if Sage could do likewise. One obvious benefit of this is that some useful applications could be written, which do not require sage knowledge, but which would be used to point out the sort of things one can do with Sage. That would attract interest. One non-triviual example, an antenna calculator making use of the NEC code like this software http://www.eznec.com/ The underlying NEC code, which was developed for US military use, is available as Fortran, though later versions are not free and have restrictions for use outside the USA for security reasons. An optional Sage package could be made of the NEC Fortran code, then a useful online calculator made. That would be a non-trivial project (perhaps one for someone doing a masters degree in an electronics field). But it would introduce people to Sage, and spark interest in them developing their own code, if they can see the power of it. Dave PS, to digress, I was once asked to compute the power a number of computers used. I did this, and gave the answer to the IT manager in Watts. He sent an email saying he did not want it in Watts, but did not say what unit he wanted. I could have guessed it was British Thermal Units, but decided to give it to him in Kilo Joules per fortnight. (I have very little respect for this idiot, as you might have gathered). At that point he said Watts was OK. -- To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-support URL: http://www.sagemath.org
