This tutorial describes how to use the mathemagix interpreter. We assume that its installation process has been performed successfully.

1.Using the interpreter

The mathemagix interpreter starts with the command:

mmx-light

If you use the interpreter in a textual context, several shortcuts can be very useful such as

• [Ctr-A], [Ctr-E] to go at the beginning or end of the instruction line,
• ↑, ↓ for the previous and next instruction line,
• [tab] for name completion.

Different modes are available:

• type_mode? := true; to print the type information with the result of an evaluation in the interpreter.
• time_mode? := true; to print the time needed to evaluate an instruction line when it is bigger than 1 ms.
• debug_mode? := true; to print debug information when an error occurs;
• quiet_mode? := true; to print only the input command and opt result of an evaluation (no prompt, no banner);

Information about an object or a function can obtained with the command help:

+ : (Generic, Vector (Generic)) -> Vector (Generic)
            
(Native)
            

            
+ : (Vector (Generic), Generic) -> Vector (Generic)
            
(Native)
            

            
+ : (Double, Double) -> Double
            
(Native)
            

            
+ : (Int, Int) -> Int
            
(Native)

2.Loading mathemagix files

A quick description of the syntax of the language is available here.

A classical way to develop mathemagix code is to edit files and load them from the interpreter. As an example, we give below the content of a file step1.mmx (in mmxtools/mmx):

f (n: Int): Int == { 
  if n < 2 then return n; 
  else {
    mmout <<n<<"\n";
    if n mod 2 = 0 then return f(n div 2);
    else return f(3*n+1);
  }
}

It can be used from the interpreter as follows:

172
86
43
130
65
196
98
49
148
74
37
112
56
28
14
7
22
11
34
17
52
26
13
40
20
10
5
16
8
4
2

3.Using mathemagix files as scripts

The interpreter can be used directly with a file:

mmx-light step1.mmx

Mathemagix files can also be used as scripts, as shown in this example:

#!/usr/bin/env mmx-light
m : Double := 0.0;
for i in 1..#argv do m:= m + as_double argv[i];
mmout<<"Mean: "<< m/(#argv-1)<<"\n";

If this code is put in a file, say mean, it can be used as follows:

chmod u+x mean
./mean 3.2 5.6 -1.7

Mean: 2.36666666667

provided that the command mmx-light is available.

4.Loading a package

The command to load and use the types and functions exported by an external library is use:

use "package";

Here the dynamic library libmmxpackage.so will be searched in the loading path (see variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH or DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH).

Under some Linux distributions you may face a problem with SELinux whenever it is in standard strict mode. Indeed SELinux will prevent you from loading Mathemagix's dynamic libraries. As a solution you can go to your administration / security menu and allow the use of shared libraries with Text Relocation. We strongly recommend you to refer to the SELinux documentation to really know what this change involves for the global security of your system.

5.The environment files

The first time the shell is launched it creates a .mathemagix in the home directory. A warning is printed.

The file .mathemagix/etc/boot.mmx is automatically loaded at startup. This is the right place to customize the shell and to load the packages you frequently use. In order to load packages you can proceed as follows:

if supports? "numerix" then use "numerix";
if supports? "algebramix" then use "algebramix";

Prior to user's boot file a global boot file (usually /usr/local/etc/mathemagix/boot.mmx) is loaded. In case you wish to disable both boot files use the option –noboot within the mmx-light command.

Within an interactive session, ending a line with a ';' actually means finishing with a null instruction. As a consequence this extra ';' prevents from printing the output of the previous instruction.