The best software for math and physics?

[the_man]

Which program is the best for math and physics?

What do you think about Maple 17?

 

[DuncanM]

I think most commercial products are pretty similar; as far as I am concerned, they all offer capabilities way beyond what I will ever need. Unless your requirements are extremely advanced or specialized, they would all cover most of your needs.

And there is no best program; there is only the right program for your needs.

What, exactly, is your application? At what level are you? What is your budget? Do you need symbolic manipulation, or are you mainly computing numerical results? Are you looking for a math symbol text editor (for, say, writing reports)? Does the program have to interface easily with other applications? etc. etc.

Maple is a very capable and powerful program.
So is Mathematica and MATLAB.
And for an Open Source, free, option, Octave is a popular choice.

If you are in university/college, or planning to enter in the next term, learn the package used at the school. If you don't know, search the school website and find out, or call around to the various professors until you find out. There is no point learning, say, Mathematica if the university you are going to enter next term uses, say, MATLAB.

 

[Solkar]

Which program is the best for math and physics?

No idea, but e.g. the graduate programs at MIT, CalTech etc are considered fairly good.