smath - again

[electricpete]

This thread is about Smath free math software:

http://en.smath.info/forum/

This software was previously discussed in 2009 here
thread724-252737

I don't think there have been any threads since then, but there have been some substantial improvements:
1 - it is now unit-aware!
2 - it has fairly good documentation, which is necessary because there is a fair learning curve for this software (not likely you can pick it up and start using it without studing the software itself for a little bit)
A good summary in 1 pdf here:

http://smath.info/wiki/GetFile.aspx?File=Tutorials/IntroductionSMathStudio088May2010.pdf

There was also a series of videos from Professor Urroz. I thought video 1 was outstanding, showing how to do simple calculations with units (remaining video's not worth much for smath). I tried similar examples as he went (stopping the video as necessary) and by the end of the video I could do it myself. I can't find the link at the moment.

What I personally find smath handy for is quick simple calculations involving units. Unit conversions are done automatically. It also acts something like an equation editor, making even nested equations look pretty.

Also, you can create a portable (flash drive) version of the program by installing onto your pc and then copying that directory from your hard drive to your flash drive and then clicking the flash drive .exe file to launch. That is handy in my work environment where we are not allowed to install things onto our pc hard drives.

For more complicated problems, I tend toward other tools. Smath is implementing "snippets" which is supposed to support a more structured programming environment, but seems to fall short. I would lean towards my favoriates (everyone's got an opinion I know) Matlab/excel for numerical intensive calcs, my ancient version of Maple sans units for more involved symbolic calcs like simultaneous symbolic equations/differential equations. My understanding is smath is similar less-capable version of mathcad...can't comment because I don't have mathcad. But none of these other software mentioned here is free, so it's probably not even appropriate to compare smath to them.


=====================================
(2B)+(2B)' ?

 

[IRstuff]

SMath has had units for quite a while, I think. However, the GUI is just not as simple as Mathcad's, thus making it slower for the types of things I do.

But, yes, if I hadn't already made an investment into Mathcad, I might lean more toward SMath. As an alternative, one could get Studyworks, which is an orphaned Mathsoft product. It's likewise a simpler version of Mathcad, but has the same user interface and units support. The cheapest copies on eBay run about $15.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[electricpete]

Thanks for your comments IRstuff.

SMath has had units for quite a while, I think.

Since Saint Patty's Day 2010.

http://en.smath.info/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=398

Which is later than the linked thread, where one poster opined: "Once it has units and subscripts then I can see it being the program of choice for most."

I searched and didn’t see any threads on this topic since then, other than side discussions in threads on unrelated topics. It was a side discussion last month in the bearing forum that got me intrested in smath again and this time I found the program much better than when I lasted looked in 2009. So, the addition of units may be "old news" to you, but probably not for everyone.

There was also a series of videos from Professor Urroz. I thought video 1 was outstanding, showing how to do simple calculations with units (remaining video's not worth much for smath). I tried similar examples as he went (stopping the video as necessary) and by the end of the video I could do it myself. I can't find the link at the moment.

I think I found that link.

http://www.neng.usu.edu/cee/faculty...0Lecture01UnitConversionSMathStudioPart01.wmv

The link exists as “Part 01” underneat Smath here:

http://www.neng.usu.edu/cee/faculty...EE3510/LabFiles/CL01_ComputationalTools01.htm

=====================================
(2B)+(2B)' ?

 

[gsal]

I don't use these kind of programs; but, for as long as Matlab was mentioned, I thought I mentioned similar programs that are free...you probably already know about them: Octave and FreeMat.

Additionally, there is SciLab, too.

 

[electricpete]

You're right, what I wrote sort of glossed over that fact or perhaps misrepresnted it.
I stand corrected, thanks.

=====================================
(2B)+(2B)' ?