review of 3.0 in Window Sources
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg5566] review of 3.0 in Window Sources
- From: gaylord at ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (richard j. gaylord)
- Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 01:02:53 -0500
- Organization: university of illinois
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
hi: just in case, anyone has read the review that appeared in the 1/97 issue of Window Sources magazine, here's a letter to the editor i just sent. maybe they'll even print it. btw - except for the programming language mistake, it's a pretty good review. -richard- >From: "richard j. gaylord" <gaylord at uiuc.edu> >Subject: [mg5566] review of Mathematica 3.0 in Window Sources 1/97 hello: In your otherwise excellent review of Mathematica 3.0, there are two mis-statements that need to be corrected. It is not true that the Mathematica programming language is hard to learn, or that familarity with C++ or Fortran (or any other procedural language) is necessary, or even helpful, in learning the language. I have taught hundreds of students as well as professionals, some having prior experience with other programming languages and some with no programming experience at all, how to program with Mathematica, and their nearly unanimous response has been that it is an extremely simple language to learn, master, and then to use. The key is to approach it as a functional language and not as a procedural language. There are several textbooks available that are quite well-suited for learning how to program in Mathematica (see http://www.wri.com for a listing of Mathematica textbooks). As the saying goes "try it; you'll like it". Professor Richard J. Gaylord Department of Materials Science and Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1304 W. Green Street Urbana, IL 61801 -- richard j. gaylord, university of illinois, gaylord at uiuc.edu "any fool can make a rule" - Henry David Thoreau "the game is afoot" - Sherlock Holmes