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author Kai T. Ohlhus <k.ohlhus@gmail.com>
date Sun, 29 May 2022 01:25:16 +0900
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1 ---
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2 layout: page
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3 title: About
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4 icon: <i class="fas fa-info-circle"></i>
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5 menu: true
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6 permalink: about
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7 ---
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8
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9 GNU Octave is a high-level language, primarily intended for numerical
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10 computations.
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11 It provides a convenient command line interface for solving linear and
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12 nonlinear problems numerically,
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13 and for performing other numerical experiments using a language that is mostly
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14 compatible with Matlab.
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15 It may also be used as a batch-oriented language.
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16
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17 Octave has extensive tools for solving common numerical linear algebra problems,
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18 finding the roots of nonlinear equations,
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19 integrating ordinary functions,
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20 manipulating polynomials,
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21 and integrating ordinary differential and differential-algebraic equations.
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22 It is easily extensible and customizable via user-defined functions written in
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23 Octave's own language,
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24 or using dynamically loaded modules written in C++, C, Fortran,
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25 or other languages.
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26
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27 GNU Octave is also freely redistributable software.
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28 You may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the
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29 [GNU General Public License (GPL)][GPL] as published by the
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30 [Free Software Foundation](https://www.fsf.org/).
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31
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32 Octave was written by [John W. Eaton](mailto:jwe@octave.org) and
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33 [many others](https://hg.savannah.gnu.org/hgweb/octave/file/tip/doc/interpreter/contributors.in).
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34 Because Octave is [free software](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) you are encouraged to help make Octave
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35 more useful by writing and contributing additional functions for it,
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36 and by reporting any problems you may have.
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37
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38 ### <i class="fas fa-landmark"></i> History
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39
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40 Octave was originally conceived (in about 1988) to be companion software for an
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41 undergraduate-level textbook on chemical reactor design being written by James
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42 B. Rawlings of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and John G. Ekerdt of the
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43 University of Texas.
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44 We originally envisioned some very specialized tools for the solution of
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45 chemical reactor design problems.
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46 Later,
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47 after seeing the limitations of that approach,
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48 we opted to attempt to build a much more flexible tool.
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49
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50 There were still some people who said that we should just be using Fortran
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51 instead,
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52 because it is the computer language of engineering,
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53 but every time we had tried that,
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54 the students spent far too much time trying to figure out why their Fortran
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55 code failed and not enough time learning about chemical engineering.
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56 We believed that with an interactive environment like Octave,
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57 most students would be able to pick up the basics quickly,
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58 and begin using it confidently in just a few hours.
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59
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60 Full-time development began in the Spring of 1992.
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61 The first alpha release was January 4, 1993, and version 1.0 was released
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62 February 17, 1994.
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63 Since then, Octave has been through several major revisions and is included
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64 with many GNU/Linux distributions.
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65 Octave was first reviewed in the July, 1997 issue of the
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66 [Linux Journal](https://web.archive.org/web/20211107141537/https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1225).
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67
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68 Clearly,
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69 Octave is now much more than just another courseware package with limited
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70 utility beyond the classroom.
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71 Although our initial goals were somewhat vague,
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72 we knew that we wanted to create something that would enable students to solve
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73 realistic problems,
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74 and that they could use for many things other than chemical reactor design
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75 problems.
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76 Today, thousands of people worldwide are using Octave in teaching,
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77 research, and commercial applications.
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78
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79 Just about everyone thinks that the name Octave has something to do with music,
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80 but it is actually the name of one of the author's former professor
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81 [Octave Levenspiel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_Levenspiel)
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82 who wrote a famous textbook on chemical reaction engineering,
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83 and who was also well known for his ability to do quick "back of the envelope"
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84 calculations.
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85 We hope that this software will make it possible for many people to do more
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86 ambitious computations just as easily.
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87
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88 Everyone is encouraged to share this software with others under the terms of
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89 the [GNU General Public License (GPL)][GPL].
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90 You are also encouraged to help make Octave more useful by writing and
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91 contributing additional functions for it,
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92 and by reporting any problems you may have.
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93
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94 [GPL]: https://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html