Subsection 1.1 Introduction to SageMath
SageMath (commonly referred to as Sage) is a free, open-source Computer Algebra System (CAS) distributed under the GNU General Public License, Version 3 (GPL v3). It is among the most powerful and comprehensive open-source mathematical software systems available today.
SageMath supports a wide range of mathematical domains, from basic computations to advanced research-level mathematics. It provides a rich set of built-in objects and functions for representing mathematical concepts and performing symbolic, numeric, and graphical computations.
Owing to its versatility and accessibility,
SageMath serves as an excellent platform for both teaching and research in mathematics and related disciplines.
The mission of SageMath is to
“create a robust, free, and open-source alternative to Magma, Maple, Mathematica, and MATLAB.”
SageMath was initiated in 2005 by Prof. William Stein, an American academician, with the goal of building a comprehensive open-source environment for mathematical computation. Initially concentrating on number theory, SageMath quickly expanded to include many branches of mathematics as more contributors joined the project. With the integration of Python’s numerical capabilities, it has become a versatile, general-purpose mathematical software.
SageMath is built on top of hundreds of scientific libraries and software packages. A complete list of these components is available at
SageMath Components.
SageMath uses the Python programming language, known for its ease of use and growing popularity in the scientific community. This combination allows users to integrate SageMath’s computational tools with a wide variety of Python libraries for data analysis, visualization, networking, databases, and other technical applications.
The
official SageMath website offers extensive resources for self-learning, including tutorials and quick-reference materials.
SageMath also supports tight integration with LaTeX through the
SageTeX package, enabling users to embed SageMath computations directly in LaTeX documents. Furthermore, LaTeX code can be included within SageMath worksheets to create interactive and well-formatted content.
