Calculation software (again) 2

[EngJW]

I have several equations and all I want to do is enter some data, run the calculations, increment the input, and list the result. Plotting the result would be nice but I suppose I could just copy it into excel.

A previous thread mentioned Mathcad, which is priced out of my reach, and Python, which I haven't a clue about after going to their website. I used to know how to do Visual Basic but apparently that is obsolete now.

What should I do- just bite the bullet and get something like Python? I really don't want to become a programmer (I could probably do the calculations faster by hand, chuckle chuckle).

Thanks for any suggestions. Sorry about my ignorance of computer stuff.

 

[corus]

Here's some excel spreadsheets using finite elements. They're not in a particulary general form to use, but it can be done.

http://www.pdhengineer.com/Course Web/Civil Courses/finite_element_analysis.htm

corus

 

[Co]

Thanks

 

[Co]

Seems like this discussion is rather a matter of personal preference and experience.

cheers,

 

[IDS]

Coppola - I have no problems with people preferring Matlab (or whatever). I have no doubt that there are applications where it will do the job more quickly or with less hassle than Excel. It was the suggestion that there are many applications that couldn't be done in Excel at all that I was contesting. There seems to be a widespread view that Excel is some sort of toy program that isn't up to real work by professionals. Since almost everything I do involves a spreadsheet at some stage or another I don't think that is accurate.

By the way, I have an Excel frame analysis program that works pretty well (although a bit slow for 3D work). I'll tidy it up and post it on the 'net one of these days.

Corus - thanks for the link, looks interesting.

Doug Jenkins
Interactive Design Services

http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/

 

[Co]

Point taken. My biased view came from the fact that I am inexperienced with excel.
Thanks for the eye opener though. I can tell you that my views have changed.

all the best,

 

[rmw]

I was glad to see Excel come along. I do have a second programming language that I have been taught but I have rarely used it in the years since I learned it. It is Fortran with the programming entered into the computer via punch cards.

rmw

 

[IRstuff]

I punched a couple of cards, once, but then, someone showed me Remote Job Entry (RJE) through the VAX to the 370, so every line of code afterwards was on the VAX. This was ASSEMBLY language on the 370; lots of fun, but totally useless in the course of my life and career.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[SomptingGuy]

Excel was designed to be a spreadsheet program. At that it "excelled", to the point of killing off all its competition. But by feature creep it's now able to do anything badly and does in too many places.

Just my view.

- Steve

 

[IDS]

SomtingGuy - I'm more interested in the things it does well, but rarely get used because of the prevailing idea that spreadsheets aren't good enough for real engineering work.

Doug Jenkins
Interactive Design Services

http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/

 

[SomptingGuy]

can/should
possible/optimal

Any mathematical problem can be Eexle'd. Should all?

- Steve

 

[IRstuff]

It's rarely just a simple question of "should." Given the investment needed to get Matlab, or Mathcad, many problems will get done in Excel because it's more cost-effective and does not require knowledge of a totally different user environment and paradigm. You can obviously get the free Octave, but it still requires learning a new environment, just for a few specific applications.

In the ideal world, you'd use the program that's most suited for the application, just like you'd use the correct tool for its application. Obviously, we all often use tools, "off-label," simply because it's there, while the correct tool is not, or is not even in our toolbox because it's too specialized to be cost-effective.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[GregLocock]

Here's another alternative to Mathcad. It looks affordable ($500-1000) and pretty, I can't wrap my head around whether it can solve all the same sorts of problems easily, I think not, as it doesn't really have a symbolic processor.

http://fchart.com/ees/ees.shtml

Somebody else suggested Maxima in a different thread, an open source program.

http://maxima.sourceforge.net/

Cheers

Greg Locock

SIGlease see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[drawoh]

GregLocock,

If you can get at a Linux box, you should have every programming language under the sun, except for exclusive Microsoft stuff, of course.

The best programming language to use for anything is the one you already know. On the rare occasion I need to write an analysis program, I use[ ]C, because I have learned it, and because I cannot remember my Fortran from college. I like hacking with computers, but I suspect a lot of people here have better things to do with their time than learn new computer languages.

I have used Perl on occasion because it has fantastic text processing resources.

If you look around, you can even find BASIC.

JHG

 

[IRstuff]

But, the whole point of using math programs is to devote one's limited resources to doing the problem, and not doing/redoing algorithms that someone else has already spent the time to debug.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[HDS]

HP calculator emulators should be mentioned here. My generation grew to depend on the real thing in college.

http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/pc/emulators/

Of course the screen size is small and the output is tricky.

 

[SomptingGuy]

I've been getting into Maxima recently. It's a lot of fun and even be useful one day for me. At the moment it's a solution looking for a problem to solve.

- Steve

 

[GregLocock]

Drove me potty! I like the idea, but it seems very kludgy in some respects.

Cheers

Greg Locock

SIGlease see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.