Here is a talk I gave that was about many of the many features Magma has that Sage doesn't have: http://wstein.org/talks/20090609-sage_and_magma/
Below I'll make a few remarks just because they occurred to me. I'm not trying to disagree with anything you wrote. On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 6:27 PM, Bill Hart<goodwillh...@googlemail.com> wrote: > Disadvantages: > * It is not as widely used (yet). It might be worth keeping in mind that Python has a much much wider usage base than Mathematica and Matlab, and that Sage can be viewed as just a "python library". > * There is not a support line IT Services can ring up in the event of > difficulties installing it on University systems. But note that there is a mailing list and irc chat room that IT Services can get help from. It might also be worth noting that in the entire history of the Sage project, nobody has ever once asked online or to me personally for a phone conversation to help them with anything related to Sage. I.e., nobody has ever written to sage-support or me personally and said "I would like phone support. Is there anybody here who would help?" Looking at the Mathematica web site, I don't think Mathematica comes with phone support, by the way, but I'm not 100% sure. It looks like you have to buy an add-on service called "Premier Service". I can't figure out how much it costs from the Mathematica website, but this blog post (http://metcaffeination.net/weblog/2008/11/22/the-next-mathematica/) says it costs $750/year. > * Releases happen so frequently that IT depts. cannot hope to keep up > with installing the latest releases. I wonder how much more often Sage releases are than iTunes releases? I just checked and our releases are maybe about twice as frequent as iTunes. I'm just pointing out that Sage isn't that unusual with its release schedule. It used to be 2 years ago though. > * It does not have certification for various industrial applications. What does that mean? Does Mathematica or Matlab have official industrial application certifications? If so, should we worry about getting certification? > * Users are expected to be developers What does that mean really? It doesn't seem technically meaningful to write "Users are expected to be developers". Expected by whom? What is a developer? > * No glossy printed reference manual Add "You can't purchase a printed reference manual". There is a glossy nice pdf reference manual, but it's not for sale. I have printed it out before (for an AMS meeting). We do sell a tutorial though, and the royalties (which are nontrivial) go to the Sage Foundation account. > * Few books available in shops about using Sage In my experience, shops do not have books about the Ma's either. The only math software one typically finds books about at say Barnes and Noble is "Microsoft Excel". I think I saw a Matlab for Dummies once. > * Parallel support is very limited if not non-existent This is true only if it is true of the Python language in general. For me, it is just false, especially because I use Sage + parallel computing on a regular basis, certainly nearly *every single time* I use Sage for any serious research I do a lot of parallel computations. Also, even Python 2.6 comes with multiprocessing by default. > Advantages: > > * Fully expressive standard languages (Python and Cython) > * Online development and support lists are extremely responsive > * Performance is superior for many basic things > * Exceptionally strong basics for number theoretical development > * Open source > * Bugs are documented and reporting bugs is encouraged > * Ability to optimise code with Cython > * Ability to make use of external third party python libraries (which > are extensive) > * Free to download > * Interface to other CAS systems > > Bill. > > On 6 July, 08:56, "Dr. David Kirkby" <david.kir...@onetel.net> wrote: >> I made a few changes to the Wikipedia page, >> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sage_(mathematics_software) >> >> to push the 'features' further up the list. I also added a section on >> advantages/disadvantages of Sage. Just sticking advantages will lead to >> their deletion, as it wont be a neutral point of view. >> >> I'd like to get similar information on the Wikipedia pages for the 3 M's >> too, but it needs to be objective. >> >> Jon McLoone is a Wolfram Research employee who is an advertising manager >> >> http://members.wolfram.com/jonm/ >> >> he goes over the Wikipedia page with a fine tooth comb, so any >> comparisons with Sage need to be objective. (He will probably try to get >> them deleted anyway), but IMHO, a Wikipedia page on Mathematica should >> list alternatives, in the same way I've stuck on the Sage page. But as I >> say, these need to be objective. > > > -- William Stein Associate Professor of Mathematics University of Washington http://wstein.org --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sage-devel-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URLs: http://www.sagemath.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
