Editing GiNaC

{{Short description|Computer algebra system}}
{{Infobox software
| name = GiNaC
| logo =
| screenshot =
| caption =
| developer = Christian Bauer, Richard B. Kreckel, Alexei Sheplyakov, Jens Vollinga, et al.
| released = {{Start date and age|1999|11|26|df=yes}}<ref>{{cite web|title=GiNaC News & Announcements|url=https://www.ginac.de/News.html|accessdate=1 February 2024}}</ref>
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|edit|P348}}
| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|single|P348|P577}} }}
| programming language = [[{{wikidata|property|P277}}]]
| operating system = [[Cross-platform]]
| genre = [[Mathematical software]]
| license = [[{{wikidata|property|P275}}]]
}}

'''GiNaC''' is a [[free software|free]] [[computer algebra system]] released under the [[GNU General Public License]]. The name is a [[recursive acronym]] for "GiNaC is Not a CAS" ([[Computer Algebra System]]). This is similar to the [[GNU]] acronym "GNU's not Unix".<ref>{{cite web|title=GiNaC's mini-FAQ|url=https://www.ginac.de/FAQ.html#whynotacas|accessdate=1 February 2024}}</ref>

What distinguishes GiNaC from most other computer algebra systems is that it does not provide a high-level interface for user interaction. Rather, it encourages its users to write [[Symbolic computation|symbolic]] [[algorithm]]s directly in [[C++]], which is GiNaC's implementation [[programming language]]. The algebraic syntax is achieved in C++ through the use of [[operator overloading]]. The name GiNaC is also explained by its developers' perception that most "computer algebra systems" put too much emphasis on a high-level interface and too little on interoperability.

GiNaC uses the [[Class Library for Numbers|CLN]] library for implementing [[arbitrary-precision arithmetic]]. Symbolically, it can do multivariate polynomial arithmetic, [[polynomial factorization|factor polynomials]], compute [[Greatest common divisor|GCD]]s, expand [[Laurent series|series]], and compute with [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrices]]. It is equipped to handle certain [[Noncommutative ring|noncommutative algebras]] which are extensively used in [[Theoretical physics|theoretical]] [[Particle physics|high energy physics]]: [[Clifford Algebra|Clifford algebras]], [[Special unitary group#The group SU(3)|SU(3)]] [[Lie algebra]]s, and [[Electromagnetic tensor|Lorentz tensors]]. Due to this, it is extensively used in [[dimensional regularization]] computations – but it is not restricted to physics.

GiNaC is the symbolic foundation in several [[Open-source software|open-source]] projects: there is a symbolic extension for [[GNU Octave]],<ref>{{Cite web| title=Octave 'symbolic' package | url=http://octave.sourceforge.net/symbolic/ | accessdate=2011-10-05}}</ref> a simulator for [[magnetic resonance imaging]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jemris.org/download.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219141144/http://www.jemris.org/download.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=2010-12-19 |title=JEMRIS – MRI simulations software |accessdate=2011-10-05 }}</ref> and since May 2009, [http://pynac.org/ Pynac], a [[Fork (software development)|fork]] of GiNaC, provides the backend for symbolic expressions in [[SageMath]].<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://github.com/pynac/pynac/wiki/FAQ-list | title=Pynac FAQ | accessdate=2015-09-27}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
*[[Comparison of computer algebra systems]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|//www.ginac.de}}

{{Computer algebra systems}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ginac}}
[[Category:C++ libraries]]
[[Category:Free computer algebra systems]]
[[Category:Free software programmed in C++]]