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author Kai T. Ohlhus <k.ohlhus@gmail.com>
date Mon, 17 Oct 2016 18:39:05 +0200
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1 ---
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2 layout: default
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3 title: About
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4 menu: false
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7 GNU Octave is a high-level language, primarily intended
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8 for numerical computations. It provides a convenient
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9 command line interface for solving linear and nonlinear
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10 problems numerically, and for performing other numerical
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11 experiments using a language that is mostly compatible
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12 with Matlab. It may also be used as a batch-oriented
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13 language.
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15 Octave has extensive tools for solving common numerical
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16 linear algebra problems, finding the roots of nonlinear
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17 equations, integrating ordinary functions, manipulating
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18 polynomials, and integrating ordinary differential and
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19 differential-algebraic equations. It is easily
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20 extensible and customizable via user-defined functions
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21 written in Octave's own language, or using dynamically
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22 loaded modules written in C++, C, Fortran, or other
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23 languages.
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24
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25 GNU Octave is also freely redistributable software. You
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26 may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of
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27 the [GNU General Public License (GPL)][1] as published by
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28 the [Free Software Foundation][2].
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30 Octave was written by [John W. Eaton][3] and [many others][4].
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31 Because Octave is [free software][5] you are encouraged to help
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32 make Octave more useful by writing and contributing additional
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33 functions for it, and by reporting any problems you may have.
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35 [1]: https://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
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36 [2]: https://www.gnu.org/
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37 [3]: mailto:jwe@octave.org
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38 [4]: http://hg.savannah.gnu.org/hgweb/octave/file/tip/doc/interpreter/contributors.in
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39 [5]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
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43 # History
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45 Octave was originally conceived (in about 1988) to be companion
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46 software for an undergraduate-level textbook on chemical reactor
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47 design being written by James B. Rawlings of the University of
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48 Wisconsin-Madison and John G. Ekerdt of the University of Texas.
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49 We originally envisioned some very specialized tools for the solution
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50 of chemical reactor design problems. Later, after seeing the
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51 limitations of that approach, we opted to attempt to build a much more
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52 flexible tool.
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53
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54 There were still some people who said that we should just be using
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55 Fortran instead, because it is the computer language of engineering,
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56 but every time we had tried that, the students spent far too much time
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57 trying to figure out why their Fortran code failed and not enough time
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58 learning about chemical engineering. We believed that with an
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59 interactive environment like Octave, most students would be able to
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60 pick up the basics quickly, and begin using it confidently in just a
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61 few hours.
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63 Full-time development began in the Spring of 1992. The first alpha
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64 release was January 4, 1993, and version 1.0 was released February 17,
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65 1994. Since then, Octave has been through several major revisions, is
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66 included with [Debian GNU/Linux][6], [openSUSE][7], and many other
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67 GNU/Linux distributions. Octave was reviewed in the in the July, 1997
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68 issue of the [Linux Journal][8].
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70 Clearly, Octave is now much more than just another courseware
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71 package with limited utility beyond the classroom. Although our
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72 initial goals were somewhat vague, we knew that we wanted to create
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73 something that would enable students to solve realistic problems, and
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74 that they could use for many things other than chemical reactor design
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75 problems. Today, thousands of people worldwide are using Octave in
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76 teaching, research, and commercial applications.
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78 Just about everyone thinks that the name Octave has something to do
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79 with music, but it is actually the name of one of the author's former
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80 professors who wrote a famous textbook on chemical reaction
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81 engineering, and who was also well known for his ability to do quick
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82 "back of the envelope" calculations. We hope that this software will
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83 make it possible for many people to do more ambitious computations
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84 just as easily.
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85
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86 Everyone is encouraged to share this software with others under the
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87 terms of the [GNU General Public License (GPL)][1]. You are also
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88 encouraged to help make Octave more useful by writing and contributing
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89 additional functions for it, and by reporting any problems you may
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90 have.
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92 [6]: https://www.debian.org/
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93 [7]: https://www.opensuse.org/
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94 [8]: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1225