Category:Mathcad: Difference between revisions

Mathcad is a proprietary software programming language that is built around the concept of writing both text and mathematical expressions on a virtual whiteboard, the main difference between a real whiteboard and Mathcad being that Mathcad can evaluate the expressions and display any results on the 'whiteboard'. The worksheet can be any length and width that the user wants. Mathcad divides the whiteboard up into virtual pages (size is user-selectable) with the Mathcad Prime restriction that only the left-hand pages can be printed (a change from earlier versions).

Mathcad's basic data types are the string, complex-valued scalars, nestable two-dimensional arrays, functions, and ranges. It also has a basic programming facility, limited to for- and while-loops, if-else if-else, and try-catch, with return, break and continue. Values and expressions can be assigned to variables. Given Mathcad's order of worksheet evaluation, a definition only holds good from the location it is defined at. Any subsequent redefinition of the variable name only has effect from the point of redefinition; it does not affect the values of the variable prior to that and adding a new expression before the redefinition will use the old variable values.

Mathcad treats single-column numeric arrays as vectors and 2D flat numeric arrays as matrices. The term 'vector' is overloaded to mean any type of single-column array, regardless of the element types. It is important to learn the distinction between a range variable and a variable holding a vector, as their behavioursbehaviors are quite different.

The range type allows iteration over a range of numeric values and is specified using the range operator then entering values for the first number in a sequence, the second number, and then the final number; the second number is optional and defaults to the first number + 1. For example, 1.0, 1.1 .. 2.0, when evaluated generates the numbers 1.0,1.1.2,1.4,1.6,1.8,20 whilst 1.0 .. 2.0 will generate 1.0,2.0. Ranges are normally used by assigning them to a variable, which is then referred to as a range variable, which Mathcad will automatically iterate over.

Mathcad exists in two main forms: the original Mathsoft version (Mathcad 15 and earlier) and PTC's revised Mathcad Prime. The main philosophical difference between Mathcad 15 and Mathcad Prime is that Prime has a more document-oriented paradigm and is geared towards working with other PTC products. As with most major product upheavals, Mathcad users fall into two main categories, those who regard Prime as a step backwardsbackward and those who regard it as superior; both sides have some merit to their arguments, but from a general user perspective, Mathcad Prime is still (as at Prime Version 6) missing several key features that are present in Mathcad 15. There is also a free version of Mathcad Prime, known as Mathcad Prime Express, that lacks several of Mathcad Prime's advanced features, such as programming, symbolics, and 3D plotting - it is surprisingly capable and, interestingly, supports a 'pure' functional programming style.