LiveMath is a computer algebra system

Computer algebra system

A computer algebra system is a software program that facilitates symbolic mathematics. The core functionality of a CAS is manipulation of mathematical expressions in symbolic form.-Symbolic manipulations:...

 available on a number of platforms including Mac OS

Mac OS

Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...

, Mac OS X

Mac OS X

Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

 (Carbon

Carbon (API)

Carbon is one of Apple Inc.'s procedural application programming interfaces for the Macintosh operating system. It provides C programming language access to Macintosh system services...

), Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

, Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

 (x86) and Solaris (SPARC). It is the latest release of a system that originally emerged as Theorist for the "classic" Mac in 1989, became MathView and MathPlus in 1997 after it was sold to Waterloo Maple

Waterloo Maple

Waterloo Maple Inc. is a Canadian software company, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario. It operates under the trading name Maplesoft and is best known as the manufacturer of the Maple computer algebra system and MapleSim physical modeling and simulation software.-Corporate history:Waterloo Maple Inc...

, and finally LiveMath after it was purchased by members of its own userbase in 1999. The application is currently owned by MathMonkeys of Cambridge, MA. The overall LiveMath suite contains LiveMath Maker, the main application, as well as LiveMath Viewer for end-users, and LiveMath Plug-In, an ActiveX

ActiveX

ActiveX is a framework for defining reusable software components in a programming language-independent way. Software applications can then be composed from one or more of these components in order to provide their functionality....

 plugin for browsers.

Description

LiveMath uses a worksheet-based approach, similar to products like Mathematica

Mathematica

Mathematica is a computational software program used in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other areas of technical computing...

 or MathCAD

MathCad

Mathcad is computer software primarily intended for the verification, validation, documentation and re-use of engineering calculations. First introduced in 1986 on DOS, it was the first to introduce live editing of typeset mathematical notation, combined with its automatic computations...

. The user enters equations into the worksheet and then uses the built-in functions to help solve them, or reduce them numerically. Workbooks typically contain a number of equations separated into sections, along with data tables, graphs, and similar outputs. Unlike most CAS applications, LiveMath uses a full GUI

Gui

Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...

with high-quality graphical representations of the equations at every step, including input.

LiveMath also allows the user to interact with the equation in the sheet; for instance, one can drag an instance of to the left hand side of the equation, at which point LiveMath will re-arrange the equation to solve for . LiveMath's algebraic solving systems are relatively simple compared to better known systems like Mathmatica, and does not offer the same sort of automated single-step solving of these packages.