| Pros | \n", "Cons | \n", "
|---|---|
| SageMath is free and open source software | \n", "|
| don't need an expensive license | \n", "there can be bugs or missing features | \n", "
| you can look at the source code and modify it if necessary | \n", "\n", " |
| has interfaces to many other open-source programs (gap, singular, polymake, ...) | \n", "\n", " |
| SageMath is based on Python | \n", "|
| intuitive, convenient syntax and data structures | \n", "not as fast as programs in C++ or other compiled languages | \n", "
| interactive session | \n", "\n", " |
| SageMath is primarily developed by volunteers, who are researchers in pure math | \n", "|
| lots of cool functions for math research (elliptic curves over finite fields, hyperbolic 3-manifolds, ...) | \n",
" code quality can vary ... | \n", "
| active and friendly community | \n", "less focused on applied mathematics and numerical computations | \n", "
![](\"attachment:image.png\")
\n",
"Then you can enter commands one after the other, pressing ``Enter`` to execute them."
]
},
{
"cell_type": "markdown",
"metadata": {},
"source": [
"Instead of the command line, we are going to use a so-called **Jupyter notebook** running SageMath as a kernel. This is the format you see before you - in particular, it allows mixing text (with formulas and pictures) and cells with code that can be executed.