Talk:List of numerical analysis software

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"Mathcad is a lower-cost alternative to MATLAB" - This sounds like "NOTEPAD is a lower-cost alternative to Microsoft Office"

[edit] Programs with syntax "similar" to MATLAB

I think the sublist under MATLAB entry should be moved to top level, and at most enumerated (without one-line description) under MATLAB entry. Unlike the sublist of Python which enumerates Python packages, they are completely independent of MATLAB. Engelec 17:50, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Done. Engelec 10:33, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

I still think it was a useful point of organization. This list is getting somewhat lengthy & I think that organizing it into sections would help. What about a section for Matlab-compatible programs? --Karnesky 14:46, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

The main problem I saw with the previous version was that while some applications were plain clones (at least that's their explicit aim), such as GNU Octave and FreeMat, there were also applications which were completely different while offering some compatibility (LabVIEW and probably COMSOL), some were in between (Sysquake), and some were "equivalent" (numerical computing, graphics and scripting language) but had reduced (Scilab) or no (Yorick) compatibility. Putting some of them under the MATLAB umbrella hides these differences. What about something like Comparison of numerical analysis software? Some possible criteria: language (MATLAB/S/other), graphics (2D/3D/none), extensible in C/Fortran, main math area (linear algebra/statistics/time series/etc.), can control hardware, OS, etc. Engelec 16:07, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Python Plotting Packages

Do the python plotting packages belong on this list? If so, then I think that it is ok to add references to plplot, dislin, gnuplot.py, and so to the python sublist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Elpadre (talk • contribs) 04:07, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't think packages that can only plot belong in this list; some of the plotting packages that are able to perform numerical analysis might belong on the list. --Karnesky (talk) 06:13, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What is the purpose of this page?

The title of the page is "list numerical analysis software". The first sentence explcitly mentions "programs". The list contains both programs and libraries. I feel that the intent of the page is not to provide a list of numerical libraries such as LAPACK++; rather to provide a list of standalone numerical programs. Otherwise, the list could go on and on because I could easily add a number of other entries similar to LAPACK++. Elpadre 11:58, 20 January 2008 (EST).