A screenshot of Scilab running |
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| Developer(s) | Scilab Consortium / Digiteo |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 5.3.3 / July 22, 2011 |
| Preview release | 5.4.0 alpha 1 |
| Written in | C, C++, Java, Fortran |
| Operating system | Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, BSD |
| Available in | Catalan, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese |
| Type | Technical computing |
| License | CeCILL |
| Website | http://www.scilab.org/ |
Scilab is an open source, cross-platform numerical computational package and a high-level, numerically oriented programming language. It can be used for signal processing, statistical analysis, image enhancement, fluid dynamics simulations, numerical optimization, and modeling and simulation of explicit and implicit dynamical systems. MATLAB code, which is similar in syntax, can be converted to Scilab. Scilab is one of several open source alternatives to MATLAB.
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Scilab is a high-level, numerically oriented programming language. The language provides an interpreted programming environment, with matrices as the main data type. By utilizing matrix-based computation, dynamic typing, and automatic memory management, many numerical problems may be expressed in a reduced number of code lines, as compared to similar solutions using traditional languages, such as Fortran, C, or C++. This allows users to rapidly construct models for a range of mathematical problems. While the language provides simple matrix operations such as multiplication, the Scilab package also provides a library of high-level operations such as correlation and complex multidimensional arithmetic. The software can be used for signal processing, statistical analysis, image enhancement, fluid dynamics simulations, and numerical optimization.[1][2]
Scilab also includes a free package called Xcos (based on Scicos) for modeling and simulation of explicit and implicit dynamical systems, including both continuous and discrete sub-systems. Xcos can be compared to Simulink from the MathWorks.
As the syntax of Scilab is similar to MATLAB, Scilab includes a source code translator for assisting the conversion of code from MATLAB to Scilab. Scilab is available free of cost under an open source license. Due to the open source nature of the software, some user contributions have been integrated into the main program.
Scilab family 5 is distributed under the GPL-compatible CeCILL license.
Prior to version 5, Scilab was semi-free software according to the nomenclature of the Free Software Foundation. The reason for this is that earlier versions' licenses prohibited commercial distribution of modified versions of Scilab.
Scilab syntax is largely based on the MATLAB language. The simplest way to execute Scilab code is to type it in at the prompt, --> , in the graphical command window. In this way, Scilab can be used as an interactive mathematical shell.
Scilab can render formulas in mathematical notation using its own Java-based rendering engine,[3] a fork of the JMathTeX project.[4]
Scilab has many contributed toolboxes for different tasks:
Many more toolboxes are available on ATOMS Portal.
Scilab was created in 1990 by researchers from INRIA and École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC). The Scilab Consortium was formed in May 2003 to broaden contributions and promote Scilab as worldwide reference software in academia and industry.[5] In July 2008, in order to improve the technology transfer, the Scilab Consortium joined the Digiteo Foundation.
In June 2010, the Consortium announced the creation of Scilab Enterprises.[6] Scilab Enterprises develops and markets, directly or through an international network of affiliated services providers, a comprehensive set of services for Scilab users. Scilab Enterprises also develops and maintains the Scilab software. The ultimate goal of Scilab Enterprises is to help make the use of Scilab more effective and easy. In September 2010, Scilab Enterprises announced a world-wide partnership with Equalis to provide Scilab Online Support (SOS) Services.[7] Through this partnership Scilab users can get the benefit of industrial-grade software, support, and services from Equalis and its network of partners anywhere in the world.
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