Mathics: A free, open-source alternative to Mathematica

Re:Mathics: A free, open-source alternative to Mathematica by qubex on Saturday November 05, 2022 @04:43AM (#33479311)

I actually agree with your premise: mathematics and it’s notations (plural) are ancient. The current notations are those that were found to be most convenient by centuries of practice by expert practitioners.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Mathics: A free, open-source alternative to Mathematica by tikej on Saturday November 05, 2022 @06:34AM (#33480066)

This is of course very true but doesn’t take into account invention of computer that is relatively recent.

Since it in principle never makes mistakes (in practice there are of course bugs, but they are usually different in nature than human errors) it changes what is possible and most convenient. You no longer have to optimise for simplicity as heavily for example. On the other hand computers basically can’t deal with ambiguity, so the rules and statements have to be stated very simply and clearly.

I believe computers can change the landscape of what’s best notation. This is an interesting, interdisciplinary topic to explore.

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Re:Mathics: A free, open-source alternative to Mathematica by Qem on Saturday November 05, 2022 @08:27AM (#33480780)

I think APL was originally created as a fix to this problem. A completely revamped math notation to make it more fit to computers as a medium, instead of pen and paper.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Mathics: A free, open-source alternative to Mathematica by hilbert42 on Saturday November 05, 2022 @10:14AM (#33481661)

If it was created thus then it could hardly be considered successful. To all but the dedicated and obsessive cognoscenti APL is nothing but gobbledygook.

[ Parent | on HN ]