Name:     Zapp
IP:       128.135.118.107
Subject:  Re: A small challenge...
Email:    zapp_ronin@hotmail.com
Website:  http://
Well, allow me to be the first to address your concerns and mine.
First let me say that there are existing programs written for every platform that do what you
describe and more.  I'm sure you know about mathematica / maple... there are other programs as
well.  Check out Scilab and Matlab for *nix style systems - I believe they will both do what you
need, and if they don't, it's not too complicated to extend them so that they do.
But, it turns out that I might be keen to try something like this myself... in baby steps, of
course.There is, however, a fundamental problem in what you are asking for:
Graphics simply are not platform independent.  In fact, they're one of the main reasons that
programs have to be ported to different systems in the first place.  Your math engine may be
wonderfully portable (but I'm almost positive that it wouldn't be entirely so), but the graphics
are the hard-to-port part.
I'm willing to give whatever you need written a shot this summer, in the spare time that I as
always will not have.  Tee hee.  It turns out that something like what you are describing (esp.
the complex numbers part) would be a great aid to me in my sound studies...
Anyway, bring this up again in one of those long talks we'll be having, eh?-Z