Research and Advances

Eliminating monotonous mathematics with FORMAC

Posted

The FORMAC (FORmula MAnipulation Compiler) programming system provides a powerful tool for performing mathematical analysis. It is an extension of FORTRAN IV which permits the use of the computer to perform the tedious algebraic computations that arise in many different fields. Among the areas in which it has been successfully used are: differentiation of complicated expressions; expansion of truncated power series, solution of simultaneous equations with literal coefficients, nonlinear maximum likelihood estimation, tensor analysis, and generation of the coefficients of equations in Keplerian motion. These types of analysis—which arose in the solution of specific practical problems in physics, engineering, astronomy, statistics and astronautics—are discussed in the paper. In addition to its usage for specific problem solutions, FORMAC can also be used to automate the analysis phase in certain production programming. Several such applications are presented.

View this article in the ACM Digital Library.

Join the Discussion (0)

Become a Member or Sign In to Post a Comment

The Latest from CACM

Shape the Future of Computing

ACM encourages its members to take a direct hand in shaping the future of the association. There are more ways than ever to get involved.

Get Involved

Communications of the ACM (CACM) is now a fully Open Access publication.

By opening CACM to the world, we hope to increase engagement among the broader computer science community and encourage non-members to discover the rich resources ACM has to offer.

Learn More