MathGroup Archive 1999

[Date Index] [Thread Index] [Author Index]

Search the Archive

RE: Mathematica References for Efficient Programming?

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg19121] RE: [mg19103] Mathematica References for Efficient Programming?
  • From: "Ersek, Ted R" <ErsekTR at navair.navy.mil>
  • Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 23:58:31 -0400
  • Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com

lhdill at aol.com  wrote:
----------------------------
I'm a Ph.D. chemical engineer who would like to both program efficiently in
Mathematica as well as write efficient programs for scientific and
engineering
applications.  I am completely self-taught when it comes to programming, and
could benefit from books that describe general programming principles
concerning, e.g., error control and debugging, as well as books specifically
about  Mathematica.

I have the book "Mathematica for Scientists and Engineers" by Bahder, which
is
good but a little dated now since it was written for version 2.2.  At
Amazon.com I read a review by a person with a M.S. in Computer Science who
highly recommended Gray's book "Mastering Mathematica:  Programming Methods
and
Applications".   

Do the folks in this discussion group have high recommendations for
references
that would be useful for me?

BTW, I would like to be good enough to start a little consulting business
using
Mathematica.  Are there any consultants out there who would be willing to
share
how they got started and where in industry they find the greatest needs.

=======================
REPLY:

I have a notebook (300 kB after deleting graphics) where I give all the neat
Mathematica  tips and tricks I came up with over the past few years.  If
anyone wants a copy I can email it to you.  Some day I will get around to
putting it on a web page.
-----------------------

Allan Hayes gives expert advise on efficient programming in The Mathematica
Journal.  See:
 
http://www.mathsource.com/
 Select Publications > Periodical > TheMathematicaJournal > 
   The Mathematica Journal Vol, 2 No 2 --Electronic Supplement

For more of the same select
  The Mathematica Journal Vol, 5 No 5 --Electronic Supplement

------------------------

You might also check:
http://www.mathsource.com/Content/General/Tutorials/Programming/0205-748
and
http://www.mathsource.com/Content22/General/Tutorials/Programming

However, I think most of what you will find there is intro level.  I think
some of the stuff is in postscript files.  If you have trouble reading them
see: 
http://support.wolfram.com/Graphics/Formats/PS/Viewing.html

------------------------
I think I give good tutorials on how I did 
some interesting (and useful)  programming at:
http://www.mathsource.com/Content/Enhancements/Graphics/2D/0209-876
and
http://www.mathsource.com/Content/Enhancements/Graphics/2D/0209-887

With Mathsource you can't beat the price!
------------------------------------

An excellent book for making you into a Mathematica power user is "Power
Programming In Mathematica the Kernel", by David B. Wagner.  He talks a lot
about efficient programming in Mathematica.

I assume you already have "The Mathematica Book".  It's a must have item.

------------------------------------
At Conference 98, Dave Withoff (of Wolfram Research) 
gave a talk on Debugging and Optimizing Mathematica programs.

At the same conference, John Novak (of Wolfram Research)
gave a talk on Programming the V3.0 Front End.

There were other talks given that you might be interested in.
I think the material from that conference is
available from the Wolfram Research web page, 
but I don't have the URL.
-------------------------------------
Regards,
Ted Ersek


  • Prev by Date: Re: Can someone explain why Mathematica is doing this?
  • Next by Date: Mathematica loosing input focus all the time
  • Previous by thread: Mathematica References for Efficient Programming?
  • Next by thread: Re: Mathematica References for Efficient Programming?