2. RunningMathematica
Installationand runningstatementscan
be differentfrom one computer system to another,
beaffected byvarious kinds of customization done on Mathematica.
However, the structure of Mathematicacalculations is the same in all cases.
You enter input,
Mathematicaprocesses it,
Mathematicareturnsa result.
6. An important feature of notebook interfaces is that they allow you to manipulate your documentat several levels.
At the lowest level, you can modify text or other material within a single cell.
At ahigher level, you can do the same kinds of operations on a whole cell at a time.
And beyond that, you can manipulate whole groups of cells.
Notebook interfaces can typically take advantage of the typographical capabilities of your computersystem's graphical user interface.
cells containing text can have a variety of "styles". The styles can involve various fonts, sizes, and so on.
In addition, even within a single cell, you canoften mix several styles, allowing you to produce typographically complex text.
7. By looking at thesebrackets, you canseehow a particular notebookis organized.
Whenagroupofcellscorrespondstoasectionorchapterofyourdocument,thefirstcellinthegrouptypicallygivessomekindofheadingforthesectionorchapter.Notebookinterfacesallowyouto"close"groupsofcellssothatonlytheirfirstcellsarevisible.Ifthefirstcellscontainheadings,youcangetanoutlineofyourdocumentinthisway.
indicatestheextentof cell
indicatestheextentof cellgroups
8. Starting and Quitting
double-click
the Mathematicaicon
text SHIFT+ENTER
choose menu itemQuit
typicalaction for startingMathematica
input for Mathematica
exiting Mathematica
10. EnteringInput
PressSHIFT+ENTERtosendinputtoMathematica. Withthiscommand, you
tell Mathematicathat you have finished preparing input for it in a particular cell.
giveall the text in your current cell as input to the Mathematica kernel.
Mathematica requires that the input you give follow a definite syntax.
12. By rotating the box, you can specify a viewpoint, which is then fed to Mathematica in textual form.
13. Getting Information from Mathematica
?Name
??Name
show information on Name
show extra information on Name
14. ?Aaaa*
objects whose names begin with Aaaa
You can ask for information about any object, whether it is built into Mathematica, has been read in from a Mathematica package, or has been introduced by you.
16. InterruptingCalculations
To terminate or interrupt Mathematica in the middle of a calculation, youcan use
menu item “Quit Kernel” from menu “Evaluation”.
some commands related with kernel control such as
Abort[]
Interrupt[]
Quit[]
Exit[]
On some computer systems, it may take Mathematica some time to respond to your interrupt
21. When you type in an integer like 7, Mathematica assumes that it is exact. If you type in a number like 4.5, with an explicit decimal point, Mathematica assumes that it is accurate only to a fixed number of decimal places.
30. GettingUsedtoMathematica
Arguments of functions are given in square brackets.
Names of built-in functions have their first letters capitalized.
Multiplication can be represented by a space.
Powers are denoted by ^.
Numbers in scientific notation are entered, for example, as 2.5 10^- 4.
33. The variables you define can have almost any names.
There is no limit on the length of their names. One constraint, however, is that variable names can never start with numbers. For example, x2 could be a variable, but 2x means 2*x.
Mathematica uses both upper-and lower-case letters.
There is a convention that built-in Mathematica objects always have names starting with upper-case (capital) letters.
To avoid confusion, you should always choose names for your own variables that start with lower-case letters.
35. UsingPreviousResults
In doing calculations, you will often need to use previous results that you have got. In Mathematica, % always stands for your last result.
36.
37. Sequences of Operations
In doing a calculation with Mathematica, you usually go through a sequence of steps. If you want to, you can do each step on a separate line. Often, however, you will find it convenient to put several steps on the same line. You can do this simply by separating the pieces of input you want to give with semicolons.
44. The Four Kinds of Bracketing in Mathematica
Eachkindofbracketinghasaverydifferentmeaning.
(term)parenthesesforgrouping
f[x]squarebracketsforfunctions
{a,b,c}curlybracesforlists
v[[i]]doublebracketsforindexing
45. Typesof Numbers
Four types of numbers are built into Mathematica.
Integerarbitrary-length exact integer
Rationalinteger/integerin lowest terms
Realapproximate real number, with any specified precision
Complexcomplexnumber of the form number+ numberi
52. ComplexNumbers
You can enter complex numbers in Mathematica just by including the constant I, equal to squareroot-1. Make sure that you type a capital I.
78. You can define the value of a symbol to be any expression, not just a number. You should realize that once you have given such a definition, the definition will continue to be used whenever the symbol appears, until you explicitly change or remove the definition. For most people, forgetting to remove values you have assigned to symbols is the single most common source of mistakes in using Mathematica.
105. Mathematicacan solve any set of simultaneous linear equations. Mathematicacan also solve a largeclass of simultaneous polynomial equations. Even when it does not manage to solve the equationsexplicitly, Mathematicawill still usually reduce them to a much simpler form.