Cadalyst - August 2008 - (Page 28)

cadalystlabsreview By Mike Hudspeth, IDSA Maple 12 Highly Recommended math software interacts directly with CAD applications. H ow many of you liked math class in school? I suppose your feelings about it reﬂect how successful you were at it. I know some people loved it. I didn’t much care for it. I wasn’t so bad at it, but there were so many things to remember. I had signiﬁcant trouble keeping everything straight. Times certainly have changed. I use math all the time now, but I can still remember how I felt back then. I can especially empathize with my children as they struggle with math in school. I tell them that it’s important, but they have a hard time believing me. They struggle with the concept that numbers translate into daily things and actions. I try to help them by telling them the same things my teachers told me: break things down into manageable chunks and document each and every step. Interestingly enough, it seems that a company called Maplesoft has taken my teachers’ advice. Its product, Maple 12, would seem to be everything my teachers told me, wrapped up in one truly handy package. Figure 1. Maple’s embedded controls may have a certain weird geekiness to them, but I really like them. You can actually control your calculations by cranking the virtual dials. Enter, Edit, Perform Billed as a calculation-management tool rather than just math software, Maple 12 allows users to create documents that make math easier to understand and use. With a properly set document, you can see your data very clearly, and that can help you make better decisions. You can also use your documents to preserve the history of your calculations — something not really practical in a spreadsheet. Maple 12 Math Software This version: . . . . . Ease of use: . . . . . Features:. . . . . . . Installation: . . . . . Customization: . . . Interoperability: . . Third-party add-ons: Help: . . . . . . . . . Innovation: . . . . . Value: . . . . . . . . 28 A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A+ A A A A A N/A A A A Pros: Great data visualization; easy operation; very flexible. Cons: High price. Price: Maple 12 Professional, $1,895; Maple 12 Academic, $995; Maple 12 Student, $99. Maplesoft 800.267.6583 www.maplesoft.com I have to admit that I’m not much of a programmer, so I don’t fully understand the work that has gone into Maple 12. Maplesoft tells me it has improved the math solvers to handle more complex math and to do it faster. That boggles my mind. This isn’t the first time I’ve looked at Maple, and it has always been more capable in the math department than I ever will be, so saying that it’ll do more complex math astounds me. But the fact that it will do it faster starts to pique my attention. Maple 12 will do more than I personally will ever need, but I’d bet if NASA had used it for that Mars probe — you know, the one that was lost because of an incorrect conversion between standard and metric measurements — it probably wouldn’t have lost it in the first place. Maple will even do differential equations. Let’s get into the nuts and bolts of Maple 12. I’ve already told you that you create documents to do your math. It has never been so easy to do that. Interactive task assistants help you much as a wizard would. You have customizable palettes that you can set for more streamlined workflow (or at least a workflow that makes more sense with how you do things). A unique and interesting feature is Dynamic Embedded Components, which are controls that you can insert into your document. Why would you want to do that? Well, leaving the sheer coolness factor aside, it will allow you to experiment with your math to get what you want or pursue those what-if scenarios every pointy-haired manager loves to request. These controls allow you to turn www.cadalyst.com cadalyst August 2008 http://www.maplesoft.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - August 2008

Cadalyst - August 2008 Contents Editor's Window CAD Central Tech Trends: Rotor Bug Strikes Again Cadalyst Labs Reviews: Digital Dreams — Visualization Software: Make Your Design Visions a Reality Maple 12 — Math Software AutoLINE 2009 — Linetype Management Add-On Deep Access — Digital-Media Asset Management Software View Point: Examining the Autodesk–Bentley Agreement CAD Manager: Managing Multioffice Mayhem MCAD Modeling: Do You Need Modeling Standards? AEC Insight: Modeling Technology for Building Engineers CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Hot Tip Harry: Better Living with Objects and Smart Entities

Cadalyst - August 2008

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