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The majority of traditional programming environments only work in digital, in machine-like precision.
Mathematica, though, its primary function gives you the ability to do analytical calculations.
That’s already a big plus that you don’t find in any other traditional environment.
I discovered Mathematica in the very first versions, in the 1980s and 90s.
It was a veritable revolution to discover the first formal calculation tools offered by Mathematica,
which... allowed me to... apply mathematics on a computer almost as I think of it.
You are able to replace things in very few lines of code, things that, in normal environments, would take dozens, hundreds of lines of code,
that you replace in Mathematica with one or two functions.
Well, I have an undergrad degree in engineering,
and then I did a doctorate in mechanical engineering.
Currently I am an instructor-researcher, an associate professor at the École nationale d’ingénieurs (National Engineering Institute) in Metz.
I conduct my research in a mechanics lab, and I teach math,
notably in the classroom, but just as much in my research and in the supervision of industrial projects with students.
I decided to present two fairly important examples of the value of Mathematica in teaching:
the first example shows the solution of the equation of vibrating cords using the classic technique of the Fourier series.
The second example is... the approximate solution of partial derivative equations.
with Mathematica, we can really get back to the base of these methods,
which are the analytical approximations.
This way, they understand the mathematical concept; they manage to implement it very easily in these simple examples.
Our lecture halls are systematically equipped with video projectors and graphic tablets
linked to a computer that has Mathematica on it.
When I’m writing my test, I allow the students to come to the test with their computer, with Mathematica installed on it.
Because I don’t see the point of... making them do lines and lines of calculations by hand;
for me, that no longer has any value.
I had the opportunity... to test a variety of software for formal calculation,
and I was totally convinced of Mathematica’s superiority for a bunch of reasons,
for the... it’s sturdiness, the coherence of the set, and then, above all, the ease of programming.