3-D graphing software?

[Dotan Cohen]

On 22/11/2007, Amadeus W.M. <amadeus84 at verizon.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:47:07 +0200, Dotan Cohen wrote:
>
> > In an advanced Calculus course, we are dealing with functions with 2
> > (and more) variables. Is there any 3-D graphing software for Fedora
> > available? Something like Kalgebra, but with a bit more functions such
> > as multiple functions graphed at the same time, asymptote min max and
> > other significant points, zoom into 3-D graph, graph of derivative and
> > integral, etc. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
> >
> > Dotan Cohen
> >
> > http://what-is-what.com
> > http://gibberish.co.il
> > א-ב-ג-ד-ה-ו-ז-ח-ט-י-ך-כ-ל-ם-מ-ן-נ-ס-ע-ף-פ-ץ-צ-ק-ר-ש-ת
> >
> > A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q:
> > Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
>
> Reading the thread I'm not exactly clear what you expect from an off-the-
> shelf GUI. The GUI is not psychic, nor does it understand spoken
> commands. You have to tell it what to plot, and you have to do so in a
> way it can understand. In other words, you must use certain commands and
> syntax. That's a programming language.

I am looking for an app where I can enter a function, for instance:
z=(x^2+y^2)/(x^3-y^3)
and have it plotted on a graph. Kalgebra does this. However, Kalgebra
lacks many features such as zooming in/out of a specific part of the
graph, selecting the domain we are looking at, and graphs of related
functions such as the partial derivative and integral (to a constant).
I hope that I'm clear, as many of the English mathematics terms are
foreign to me, but even if I'm using the wrong term I think that what
I'm describing is getting clearer.

> There are two major professional-grade numerical programs: Matlab and
> Mathematica. Neither is free nor open source, each with its own
> strengths. I program in matlab for a living, and from experience I'd say
> matlab is a better tradeoff between power and simplicity. It can do all
> you want and, needless to say, much more. And the GUI is what you want a
> GUI to be: can do multiple plots, zoom, pan, tilt, 2D, 3D, edit,
> different illuminations, texture, colors, and things you never knew were
> possible. If you're a student, you can get the student version for $100.
> A very good investment if you're going down the Math/Engineering path.

I have seen a bit of Matlab, though I think that Mathematica is more
standard at my university. The truth is, the only program that I have
experience with is Spacetime for the PocketPC:
http://www.spacetime.us/

I'll write to the authors of Spacelab and ask about a Linux port. It's
available for just about everything else.

> Otherwise try Scilab, or octave, which is matlab's open source port (like
> gimp and photoshop), which uses gnuplot for plotting. For one, you can't
> rotate the graph by drag-and-drop as you can in matlab, and various other
> shortcomings.

Actually, I don't really like the mouse interface. Can the graphs be
rotated, zoomed, and panned via the keyboard? Does it show derivatives
and integral functions? I'll install it as soon as I'm back home and
see what I come up with. Thanks.

Dotan Cohen

http://what-is-what.com
http://gibberish.co.il
א-ב-ג-ד-ה-ו-ז-ח-ט-י-ך-כ-ל-ם-מ-ן-נ-ס-ע-ף-פ-ץ-צ-ק-ר-ש-ת

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?