Have you ever used Mathematica? I'm guessing that you haven't. It is a program that not only allows calculation in symbolic logic, it can do just about any problem you throw at it, well into the graduate level. None of the modules that you have provided do that.

The question becomes, how hairy is the optimization? If you are talking about something he can solve once on paper -- for instance the shapes that are being cut are the same each time, then he doesn't need the power of Mathematica, or another technical computing platform. If, on the other hand, you are talking about something which you can't solve once for -- for instance if all of the shapes that are being cut change, and they are irregular, there may be a need for Mathematica.

I don't work for Wolfram, and am in no way affliliated with them, but back when I was getting my degree in Mathematics, Mathematica impressed me more then any of its competitors -- Matlab, Maple, etc. If you need a lot of power, I would recommend trying it. I am pretty sure you can get it on a 30 day trial. If there is a real need, you will be more then able to justify the cost.

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In reply to Re: Re: Re: Geometric Optimisation and Perl by Vautrin
in thread Geometric Optimisation and Perl by stefzody

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