mwang@watmath.UUCP (mwang) (07/02/85)
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO SEMINAR ACTIVITIES COMPUTER SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM - Wednesday, July 10, 1985. R.D. Jenks of IBM, Yorktown Heights, will speak on ``The SCRATCHPAD II Computer Algebra System.'' TIME: 3:30 PM ROOM: MC 5158 ABSTRACT This talk presents ongoing research over the past 8 years at IBM Research on a new implementation of the SCRATCHPAD system for interactive computer algebra. The new system has a programming language with extensi- ble, parameterized, and dynamically constructible types. The system provides a single high-level language with an interpreter and compiler. This language can be used both by the naive user for convenient interactive mathematical calculations and by the advanced user for the efficient implementation of algorithms. Although especially designed for computer algebra, the language provides data abstraction and hiding mechanisms which generalize those found in such languages as CLU, Modula II, and Ada. Unlike existing systems such as MACSYMA, system components have no global variable interdepen- dencies and are written in the high-level language so that there is no penalty for user extension. The system will made available from CSNET, Arpanet, and Telenet to a limited number of universities and research centers in Summer, 1985, for test and evalua- tion. Coffee and refreshments will be served at 3:00 PM. July 2, 1985