How does Maple Compare?
Quick Calculations
If you are looking for a tool to perform quick, on-the-fly calculations, Maple is the ideal choice. Maple is an easy-to-use tool that is designed to do real mathematics. It provides exact, symbolic answers to your mathematical problems, not just numerical approximations: if the answer is  , that is exactly what Maple gives you. Answers can frequently be found with a click of a button, calculations can be modified and re-executed, solution methods are recorded, solutions are easily visualised, and problem-solving sessions can easily be turned into full reports, all within the same environment.
You do not need to write your report as you perform calculations if you don’t want to. Most of the time, you will start by working out the math and then add explanations, remove dead-end exploration paths, and add structures such as sections and tables. Until then, meaningful mathematical notation and self-documenting context-menu operations provide a record of your steps automatically. You can then add text and mathematical explanations, add annotations to plots, create diagrams, add images, organise the document into sections and subsections, hide steps that interfere with the document flow, and transform your calculations into a full technical report.
Do you need to make a change to the calculations after the document is polished? Maple documents are “live,” so even after your report is complete, you can make changes and recompute all of the calculations and plots in the document. Instantly, you can have a new report.
 Easy Problem Entry, Rapid Solutions
Mathematical problems are composed in Maple using natural mathematical notation. Users have the flexibility of entering problems through palettes, the keyboard, or a combination of both. Mathematical expressions are created using standard mathematical notation, including standard abbreviations. For example, 10x means “10 times x”, and y' means y'(x).
Many solutions can be found literally with a click of a button. Smart context-sensitive menus provide an appropriate choice of mathematical operations; simply select what you want, and the answer appears.
Interactive assistants, tutors, and task templates are also available to guide you through multi-step problems, explore concepts, and modify options. If you prefer to use commands directly, you also have access to Maple’s extensive command set and full programming language.
Maple Does More
Maple does more than simply answer the question you asked. With Maple,
- You get a record of all the steps you took in your computation. Context-menu operations are automatically documented by Maple. Methods, and not just final answers, can be reviewed, giving you confidence in your results.
- Problems can be modified and multi-step calculations redone with a click of a button. All intermediate calculations, including plots, are visibly updated.
- You have easy access to over 150 plot types and options and the ability to programmatically create more. Many plots and animations can be created and modified through the point-and-click Plot Builder assistant. Plots can be manipulated interactively, including panning, zooming, and real-time rotation of 3-D plots.
- A wide variety of built-in tools and resources are available, such as a database of scientific constants, units support, a function advisor, a back-solver, and an Exploration Assistant that lets you visually explore any mathematical or Maple expression.
 Preserving and Documenting your Results
When you started, you may have thought you just needed a quick answer to a quick question. By the time you were finished, you realised you had done considerably more, and you don’t want to lose the thought processes that went into your solution. Fortunately, in addition to being a calculation tool, Maple is a full technical documentation environment. You can easily go back and add explanations (in text and mathematical notion), explanatory diagrams, annotations to your plot to highlight key areas, and more. And of course, your mathematical calculations are still live–you can still make changes to the mathematics, add additional calculations, change parameters, and update results, even after you've created your document.
Once you are done, you can print your document, email it to a colleague, export it to HTML, present it as a slide-show, or further develop it into a full-blown interactive application for others to use.
Learn more about Calculation Tools in Maple:
Professional
Redefining Usability
State-of-the-Art Visualisation Capabilities
Extensive Collection of Built-in Mathematical Algorithms
Academic
Clickable Math
Extensive Collection of Built-in Mathematical Algorithms
State-of-the-Art Visualisation Capabilities
Read more about:
Maths Equation Editor
Context-sensitive menus
Interactive assistants
Exploration Assistant
Other Maple features |
Connectors