In this example, with expr:=t^3-t+10, the elements of sol already have a+b*I form.

Alec

There is also an option to plot inside a cell of a table - first insert a table, then set its borders, both interior and exterior to None (in Properties which are accessible from the Context menu), then add or remove columns and rows to achieve the desirable size of a cell, then plot in a cell.

Alec

For a regular homework, I usually had a grader (this time he graded just quizzes), so it wasn't my problem.

It is less problem, in general, for a regular (paper) homework, because the answer there is not enough - it would be graded as 0 - the important part is the solution. And even if somebody used Wolfram Alpha to obtain the solution (using Step-by-Step links there), just writing it down in the homework might be helpful, I think - there is a bigger problem of somebody else doing the homework though.

Alec

For a regular homework, I usually had a grader (this time he graded just quizzes), so it wasn't my problem.

It is less problem, in general, for a regular (paper) homework, because the answer there is not enough - it would be graded as 0 - the important part is the solution. And even if somebody used Wolfram Alpha to obtain the solution (using Step-by-Step links there), just writing it down in the homework might be helpful, I think - there is a bigger problem of somebody else doing the homework though.

Alec

In Mathematica, such a thing can be done using Distribute with List, as in the following example,

Distribute[{{1, 2}, {a, b, c}, {4, 5}}, List]

{{1, a, 4}, {1, a, 5}, {1, b, 4}, {1, b, 5}, {1, c, 4}, {1, c, 5}, 
{2, a, 4}, {2, a, 5}, {2, b, 4}, {2, b, 5}, {2, c, 4}, {2, c, 5}}

It works faster than CartProdSeq in Maple, but slower than Python (and Sage),

Timing[Distribute[Table[{1, 2}, {i, 16}], List];]

{0.062, Null}

Alec

That's quite interesting!

Just for comparison, in Python (and Sage) it can be done as

def C(*args):
    from itertools import product
    return [i for i in product(*args)]

The timing in the last example is

timeit('a=C(*[[1,2] for i in range(16)])')

         	25 loops, best of 3: 27 ms per loop

(compared to 0.171 sec that I get in Maple.)

Alec

Yes, some problems don't work verbatim (in particular, with double or triple integrals). That may be just a matter of time - and if one posts such a problem there, it may be fixed in a day or two :) 

I used MyMathLab in Calculus1A (it is a new idea here - to divide Calculus I in 2 parts, Calculus 1A and Calculus 1B, one semester each), and problems there were easily done by Wolfram Alpha (except, maybe, when there were 4 plots and 4 functions, and one had to match each function with its plot - that also could be done by plotting the functions, but not verbatim - because the plots could not be entered.)

But the most problems did!

Proctoring might help in some cases, but it's not that easy to proctor a computer lab with 30+ people, plus some of them could just use their phones :)  That reduces using MapleTA (or MyMathLab) to tests (or exams, with proctoring) anyway - but we didn't use it for tests - the tests were regular. We used it for the homework. I don't see how the proctors could be useful there.

Alec

Yes, some problems don't work verbatim (in particular, with double or triple integrals). That may be just a matter of time - and if one posts such a problem there, it may be fixed in a day or two :) 

I used MyMathLab in Calculus1A (it is a new idea here - to divide Calculus I in 2 parts, Calculus 1A and Calculus 1B, one semester each), and problems there were easily done by Wolfram Alpha (except, maybe, when there were 4 plots and 4 functions, and one had to match each function with its plot - that also could be done by plotting the functions, but not verbatim - because the plots could not be entered.)

But the most problems did!

Proctoring might help in some cases, but it's not that easy to proctor a computer lab with 30+ people, plus some of them could just use their phones :)  That reduces using MapleTA (or MyMathLab) to tests (or exams, with proctoring) anyway - but we didn't use it for tests - the tests were regular. We used it for the homework. I don't see how the proctors could be useful there.

Alec

That's great news!

Alec

Doug,

I don't think I have any specific question. Just curiosity, as I said.

Dave Hare seems to be responsible for Linear Algebra package (with such coding as if 0<1 then...) - that's all what I know about him - he doesn't seem to post much here (or any other places that I know.)

Paulina was very helpful on this site for graphics related questions.

Alec

Well, for me there are 2 questions - what would make me to use Maple again myself, and what would make me to use Maple in my classes. 

The first question is rather simple - if I could get Maple 15 for free (the last complimentary version that I got from Maplesoft was Maple 12), I would use it.

The second question was mostly answered above - a native Windows (or even better, .NET) interface with default 1d (classic Maple worksheet) input, with improved plots.

A better LaTeX collaboration (with a possibility of including LaTeX in plots and text), would be also great.

More step-by-step solutions and native language input (like in Wolfram Alpha) would be extremely helpful.

From my earlier posts on this topic, also including new Abstract Algebra, Combinatorics, Number Theory, and Cryptography packages would be nice.

Alec

Doug, 

A very good report! I really enjoyed reading it.

Just out of curiosity (since you didn't mention that), did you meet anybody from the Mathematics (or whatever it is called) group, and Paulina Chin?

Alec

Well, it was hard to believe for me as well. The message that I am talking about, was deleted from my previous blog entry, with a video in it (several months ago), after which I stopped posting here. The person deleted it, left me a private message about that, so it was done in a more polite way than several times earlier (when I also stopped posting here for several years).

Alec

LinearAlgebra:-Eigenvalues(A,C) solves the generalized eigenvalue problem - i.e. solves the equation det(A-lambda*C)=0.

Alec

LinearAlgebra:-Eigenvalues(A,C) solves the generalized eigenvalue problem - i.e. solves the equation det(A-lambda*C)=0.

Alec