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author Kai T. Ohlhus <k.ohlhus@gmail.com>
date Tue, 01 Nov 2016 01:06:10 +0100
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2 layout: page 2 layout: page
3 title: About 3 title: About
4 permalink: /about/
5 menu: true 4 menu: true
6 --- 5 ---
7 6
8 GNU Octave is a high-level language, primarily intended for numerical computations. It provides a convenient command line interface for solving linear and nonlinear problems numerically, and for performing other numerical experiments using a language that is mostly compatible with Matlab. It may also be used as a batch-oriented language. 7 GNU Octave is a high-level language, primarily intended
8 for numerical computations. It provides a convenient
9 command line interface for solving linear and nonlinear
10 problems numerically, and for performing other numerical
11 experiments using a language that is mostly compatible
12 with Matlab. It may also be used as a batch-oriented
13 language.
9 14
10 Octave has extensive tools for solving common numerical linear algebra problems, finding the roots of nonlinear equations, integrating ordinary functions, manipulating polynomials, and integrating ordinary differential and differential-algebraic equations. It is easily extensible and customizable via user-defined functions written in Octave's own language, or using dynamically loaded modules written in C++, C, Fortran, or other languages. 15 Octave has extensive tools for solving common numerical
16 linear algebra problems, finding the roots of nonlinear
17 equations, integrating ordinary functions, manipulating
18 polynomials, and integrating ordinary differential and
19 differential-algebraic equations. It is easily
20 extensible and customizable via user-defined functions
21 written in Octave's own language, or using dynamically
22 loaded modules written in C++, C, Fortran, or other
23 languages.
11 24
12 GNU Octave is also freely redistributable software. You may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) as published by the Free Software Foundation. 25 GNU Octave is also freely redistributable software. You
26 may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of
27 the [GNU General Public License (GPL)][1] as published by
28 the [Free Software Foundation][2].
13 29
14 Octave was written by John W. Eaton and many others. Because Octave is free software you are encouraged to help make Octave more useful by writing and contributing additional functions for it, and by reporting any problems you may have. 30 Octave was written by [John W. Eaton][3] and [many others][4].
31 Because Octave is [free software][5] you are encouraged to help
32 make Octave more useful by writing and contributing additional
33 functions for it, and by reporting any problems you may have.
15 34
16 ### History 35 [1]: https://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
36 [2]: https://www.gnu.org/
37 [3]: mailto:jwe@octave.org
38 [4]: http://hg.savannah.gnu.org/hgweb/octave/file/tip/doc/interpreter/contributors.in
39 [5]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
17 40
18 Octave was originally conceived (in about 1988) to be companion software for an undergraduate-level textbook on chemical reactor design being written by James B. Rawlings of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and John G. Ekerdt of the University of Texas. We originally envisioned some very specialized tools for the solution of chemical reactor design problems. Later, after seeing the limitations of that approach, we opted to attempt to build a much more flexible tool.
19 41
20 There were still some people who said that we should just be using Fortran instead, because it is the computer language of engineering, but every time we had tried that, the students spent far too much time trying to figure out why their Fortran code failed and not enough time learning about chemical engineering. We believed that with an interactive environment like Octave, most students would be able to pick up the basics quickly, and begin using it confidently in just a few hours.
21 42
22 Full-time development began in the Spring of 1992. The first alpha release was January 4, 1993, and version 1.0 was released February 17, 1994. Since then, Octave has been through several major revisions, is included with Debian GNU/Linux and SuSE Linux distributions, and was reviewed in the in the July, 1997 issue of the Linux Journal. 43 # History
23 44
24 Clearly, Octave is now much more than just another courseware package with limited utility beyond the classroom. Although our initial goals were somewhat vague, we knew that we wanted to create something that would enable students to solve realistic problems, and that they could use for many things other than chemical reactor design problems. Today, thousands of people worldwide are using Octave in teaching, research, and commercial applications. 45 Octave was originally conceived (in about 1988) to be companion
46 software for an undergraduate-level textbook on chemical reactor
47 design being written by James B. Rawlings of the University of
48 Wisconsin-Madison and John G. Ekerdt of the University of Texas.
49 We originally envisioned some very specialized tools for the solution
50 of chemical reactor design problems. Later, after seeing the
51 limitations of that approach, we opted to attempt to build a much more
52 flexible tool.
25 53
26 Just about everyone thinks that the name Octave has something to do with music, but it is actually the name of one of the author's former professors who wrote a famous textbook on chemical reaction engineering, and who was also well known for his ability to do quick "back of the envelope" calculations. We hope that this software will make it possible for many people to do more ambitious computations just as easily. 54 There were still some people who said that we should just be using
55 Fortran instead, because it is the computer language of engineering,
56 but every time we had tried that, the students spent far too much time
57 trying to figure out why their Fortran code failed and not enough time
58 learning about chemical engineering. We believed that with an
59 interactive environment like Octave, most students would be able to
60 pick up the basics quickly, and begin using it confidently in just a
61 few hours.
27 62
28 Everyone is encouraged to share this software with others under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). You are also encouraged to help make Octave more useful by writing and contributing additional functions for it, and by reporting any problems you may have. 63 Full-time development began in the Spring of 1992. The first alpha
64 release was January 4, 1993, and version 1.0 was released February 17,
65 1994. Since then, Octave has been through several major revisions, is
66 included with [Debian GNU/Linux][6], [openSUSE][7], and many other
67 GNU/Linux distributions. Octave was reviewed in the in the July, 1997
68 issue of the [Linux Journal][8].
69
70 Clearly, Octave is now much more than just another courseware
71 package with limited utility beyond the classroom. Although our
72 initial goals were somewhat vague, we knew that we wanted to create
73 something that would enable students to solve realistic problems, and
74 that they could use for many things other than chemical reactor design
75 problems. Today, thousands of people worldwide are using Octave in
76 teaching, research, and commercial applications.
77
78 Just about everyone thinks that the name Octave has something to do
79 with music, but it is actually the name of one of the author's former
80 professors who wrote a famous textbook on chemical reaction
81 engineering, and who was also well known for his ability to do quick
82 "back of the envelope" calculations. We hope that this software will
83 make it possible for many people to do more ambitious computations
84 just as easily.
85
86 Everyone is encouraged to share this software with others under the
87 terms of the [GNU General Public License (GPL)][1]. You are also
88 encouraged to help make Octave more useful by writing and contributing
89 additional functions for it, and by reporting any problems you may
90 have.
91
92 [6]: https://www.debian.org/
93 [7]: https://www.opensuse.org/
94 [8]: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1225