Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Maxima VS Scilab

Compare Maxima VS Scilab and see what are their differences

Maxima logo Maxima

Maxima is a fairly complete computer algebra system written in Lisp with an emphasis on symbolic computation.

Scilab logo Scilab

Scilab Official Website. Enter your search in the box aboveAbout ScilabScilab is free and open source software for numerical . Thanks for downloading Scilab!
  • Maxima Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-15
  • Scilab Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-10

Maxima features and specs

  • Open-source
    Maxima is freely available and open-source, allowing users to access, modify, and distribute the software without any cost.
  • Symbolic Computation
    Maxima specializes in symbolic computation, providing robust tools for algebraic manipulations, differentiation, integration, and equation solving.
  • Customizability
    As an open-source software, Maxima is highly customizable, and users can modify the source code or write their own functions to extend its capabilities.
  • Documentation
    Maxima comes with extensive documentation, including a comprehensive manual and numerous tutorials, which can aid both beginners and advanced users.
  • Integration with Other Tools
    Maxima can be integrated with other software tools and languages such as Python (via SymPy), providing flexibility and additional functionality for complex computations.

Possible disadvantages of Maxima

  • User Interface
    The default user interface of Maxima is less polished compared to commercial alternatives, which may affect the user experience, especially for beginners.
  • Performance
    While suitable for many tasks, Maxima may not perform as efficiently as some specialized commercial software for very large or complex computations.
  • Learning Curve
    Due to its depth and the nature of symbolic computation, there can be a steep learning curve for new users who are not already familiar with similar tools or mathematical concepts.
  • Community Support
    As an open-source project, support primarily comes from the user community, which may not always be as responsive or comprehensive as professional, paid support services.
  • Updates and Maintenance
    Maxima updates and maintenance depend on community contributions, which can sometimes lead to less frequent updates or delayed fixes for bugs compared to commercial software.

Scilab features and specs

  • Open Source
    Scilab is free and open-source software, allowing users to access the source code and modify it to suit their needs without any cost.
  • Extensive Mathematical Functionality
    Scilab provides a wide range of mathematical functions and capabilities for numerical computation, making it suitable for a variety of scientific and engineering applications.
  • Toolboxes and Modules
    It offers various built-in toolboxes and modules for specialized tasks, such as signal processing, control systems, and optimization, expanding its functionality.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Scilab runs on different operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing flexibility for users working in diverse environments.
  • Strong Community Support
    A large and active user community means that users can find plenty of support, tutorials, and third-party contributions, easing the learning curve.
  • Integration Capabilities
    Scilab can be easily integrated with other software and tools, such as Modelica for modeling and simulation, enhancing its versatility in different workflows.

Possible disadvantages of Scilab

  • Performance
    Scilab may not be as performance-optimized as some other numerical computation software, like MATLAB, especially for very large datasets or highly complex calculations.
  • Learning Curve
    While Scilab is powerful, it can be challenging for beginners to master due to its extensive functionality and the need to learn its scripting language.
  • Less Commercial Support
    As open-source software, Scilab does not offer the same level of commercial support or extensive professional resources that are available for some paid alternatives like MATLAB.
  • Documentation Quality
    Although Scilab has a lot of documentation, some users find that it lacks depth or clarity compared to other software, making it harder to find thorough explanations or examples.
  • Graphical User Interface
    The graphical user interface (GUI) of Scilab is not as polished or user-friendly as that of some competitor tools, which can impact user experience.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Interoperability with MATLAB can be limited, potentially causing issues when porting code or collaborating with MATLAB users.

Maxima videos

2019 Nissan Maxima SR – The 4-Door Sports Car?

More videos:

  • Review - 2019 Nissan Maxima SR Review // A $40,000 Performance Sedan
  • Review - 2019 Nissan Maxima | CarGurus Test Drive Review
  • Demo - Maxima video

Scilab videos

Scilab IPCV 1.2

More videos:

  • Review - Raspberry Pi for Computer Vision with Scilab
  • Review - Tone Recognition with Scilab and LabVIEW to Scilab Gateway

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Maxima and Scilab)
Technical Computing
35 35%
65% 65
Numerical Computation
35 35%
65% 65
Math Solver
64 64%
36% 36
3D
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Maxima and Scilab

Maxima Reviews

  1. Stable (slow but steady growth)

    I've been using Maxima since my undergraduate (over 10 years), now with Ubuntu20.04 lts, I become a newbie of SageMath. For a small project (both symbolical and numerical), in particular, student lab activities, Maxima has been a powerful tool for analyzing and visualizing data. (The Android version is also fantastic, but the poor keyboard.)

    Mathematica is always enemy/friend. (My coworkers are all Mathematica speakers.)

    🏁 Competitors: Wolfram Mathematica
    👍 Pros:    Easy for cli user|Lithghter
    👎 Cons:    Good for advanced users of computers (cli is sometimes hard for newbie)|Hard to find official references, tutors, etc

7 Best MATLAB alternatives for Linux
Another alternative to MATLAB is Maxima which is a computer algebra system (CAS) for manipulation of symbolic and numerical expressions including differentiation, integration, Laplace transformation, linear algebraic equations, tensors, etc.
Matlab Alternatives
Another alternative of Matlab is Maxima which was inspired by the legendary Algebra system Macsyma. It is a system used for manipulating numerical expressions such as Taylor series, Laplace transformations, Vectors, Tensors, and Matrices. Very accurate results are provided by using exact floating numbers, fractional values, and integers. The Source Forge file manager...
Source: www.educba.com
10 Best MATLAB Alternatives [For Beginners and Professionals]
Maxima is extracted from Macsyma, a computer algebra system developed in the late 1960s by MIT. Maxima is frequently updated to fix bugs for a more optimized coding experience
4 open source alternatives to MATLAB
Check out Maxima, it is a system for the manipulation of symbolic and numerical expressions, including differentiation, integration, Taylor series, Laplace transforms, ordinary differential equations, systems of linear equations, polynomials, sets, lists, vectors, matrices and tensors.
Source: opensource.com
3 Open Source Alternatives to MATLAB
Maxima, another frequently updated alternative to MATLAB. It's based on Macsyma, a "legendary computer algebra system" developed at MIT in the 1960s, can be compiled on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows, and is available under GPLv2.

Scilab Reviews

25 Best Statistical Analysis Software
Scilab is a powerful, free, and open-source software widely used by researchers, students, and professionals in various fields such as engineering, mathematics, physics, and more.
7 Best MATLAB alternatives for Linux
The syntax of Scilab is similar to MATLAB it also provides a source code translator to convert MATLAB code to Scilab.
Matlab Alternatives
Scilab is an open-source similar to the implementation of Matlab. The approximation techniques known as Scientific Computing is used to solve numerical problems. To achieve this, the team of Scilab developers made use of Solvers and algorithms to build the algebraic libraries. Scilab is one of the major alternatives to Matlab along with GNU Octave.
Source: www.educba.com
10 Best MATLAB Alternatives [For Beginners and Professionals]
Scilab has 1700 mathematical functions for engineering applications and data analysis. You can also use Scilab to solve various constrained and unconstrained problems such as shape and topology optimizations etc.
4 open source alternatives to MATLAB
Scilab is another open source option for numerical computing that runs across all the major platforms: Windows, Mac, and Linux included. Scilab is perhaps the best known alternative outside of Octave, and (like Octave) it is very similar to MATLAB in its implementation, although exact compatibility is not a goal of the project's developers.
Source: opensource.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Maxima seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 27 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Maxima mentions (27)

  • Integral Calculator
    I think the really neat piece of software behind this is maxima (https://maxima.sourceforge.io/), a rather influential computer algebra system of ancient lineage still in use today in more place than you might think. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Rye: Homoiconic dynamic programming language with some new ideas
    In the maxima computer algebra system[1] which was ancestrally based on lisp it has a single quote operator[2] which delays evaluation of something and a "double quote" (which acually two single quotes rather than an actual double quote) operator[3] which asks maxima to evaluate some expression immediately rather than leaving it in symbolic form.[4] [1] https://maxima.sourceforge.io/ [2]... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • True or False
    Use wxmaxima, a free and open-source computer algebra system:. Source: over 1 year ago
  • C++ library for solving EQUATIONS
    There are several options, here is one of them: https://maxima.sourceforge.io. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Do you know computer algebra software capable of managing systems of multiple equations with multiple unknowns and multiple variables?
    You may use maxima cas (https://maxima.sourceforge.io/) to solve symbolic complex problems. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

Scilab mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Scilab yet. Tracking of Scilab recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Maxima and Scilab, you can also consider the following products

MATLAB - A high-level language and interactive environment for numerical computation, visualization, and programming

Wolfram Mathematica - Mathematica has characterized the cutting edge in specialized processing—and gave the chief calculation environment to a large number of pioneers, instructors, understudies, and others around the globe.

GNU Octave - GNU Octave is a programming language for scientific computing.

Sage Math - Sage is a free open-source mathematics software system licensed under the GPL.

SMath Studio - Tiny, powerful, free mathematical program with WYSIWYG editor and complete units of measurements support.

AnyLogic - AnyLogic has changed simulation modeling and expanded its application into complex business environments. The unmatched flexibility of multimethod modeling allows users to capture the complexity of virtually any system, at any level of detail.