The ability to see the contour lines in 3D is definitely a plus -- Doug's approach has much to commend it!

One minor drawback of using 3d plots, as discussed elsewhere, is that 3D plots are currently lagging behind in development relative to 2D plots. Hopefully this will be fixed soon!

contourplot3d(f(x,z), x=-3..3, z=-3..3, grid=[100,100], 
contours=[$-10..10], numpoints=100, axes=boxed, 
orientation=[20,70], view=[-3..3,-3..3,-10..10]);

Standard 13.01:

Classic 13.01:

very different!

and, zooming a little:

If this is what the contour lines should look like, the plots I posted above, obtained with numpoints=100 are way off! Interesting lesson.

very different!

and, zooming a little:

If this is what the contour lines should look like, the plots I posted above, obtained with numpoints=100 are way off! Interesting lesson.

It appears I misunderstood what you meant by "smooth" and "jagged" -- I didn't understand you were referring to the sharp angles, I can see the problem now -- Paulina's code below generates very different looking plots.

It appears I misunderstood what you meant by "smooth" and "jagged" -- I didn't understand you were referring to the sharp angles, I can see the problem now -- Paulina's code below generates very different looking plots.

Maple 13.01 Classic:

Similar feel as the simpler plot generated with numpoints=100.

Maple 13.01 Classic:

Similar feel as the simpler plot generated with numpoints=100.

pretty much the same:

pretty much the same:

The 2 plots above were obtained with Maple 13.01 Classic and exported as jpg

The 2 plots above were obtained with Maple 13.01 Classic and exported as jpg

default:

numpoints=100:

default:

numpoints=100:

a quick search brought up a few alternatives .You may want to look into this:

http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/maple/

or you may want to adapt an existing latex style file designed for matlab code that does a most excellent job:

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/8015-m-code-latex-package

It uses the lstlisting environment suggested earlier by Jacques. Perhaps this mcode.sty can be adapted to maple styles without too much work. By redefining colors, by adding a > on the left-hand side of each input line, and centering the output line, you should be able to get something that works for maple.

a quick search brought up a few alternatives .You may want to look into this:

http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/maple/

or you may want to adapt an existing latex style file designed for matlab code that does a most excellent job:

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/8015-m-code-latex-package

It uses the lstlisting environment suggested earlier by Jacques. Perhaps this mcode.sty can be adapted to maple styles without too much work. By redefining colors, by adding a > on the left-hand side of each input line, and centering the output line, you should be able to get something that works for maple.