Mathematica is today s most advanced technical computing system. It features a rich programming environment, two-and three-dimensional graphics capabilities and hundreds of sophisticated, powerful programming and mathematical functions using state-of-the-art algorithms. Combined with a user-friendly interface, and a complete mathematical typesetting system, Mathematica offers an intuitive, easy-to-handle environment of great power and utility.The Mathematica Guidebook for Programming provides a comprehensive, step-by-step development of Mathematica programming capabilities and contains an enormous collection of examples and worked exercises. It guides the reader to become fluent in the structure of Mathematica expressions, expression evaluation, pure and named functions, and in procedural, rule-based, and functional programming constructs. Each Mathematica function is discussed in detail, explained in numerous examples, and put to work in real programs that are contained on the accompanying DVD.Unique Features:* Step-by-step presentation of Mathematica functions assuming no prior Mathematica programming experience* Clear organization, complete topic coverage, and an accessible writing style for both novices and experts* Detailed discussion of procedural, rule-based, and functional programming* Hundreds of worked examples, illustrations, programs, and fully worked self-study exercises for understanding concepts and learning how to solve real-life problems* Website for book with additional materials:http://www/MathematicaGuideBooks. org* Accompanying DVD containing all materials as an electronic book with complete, executable Mathematica versions 4 and 5 compatible code and programs, rendered color graphics, and animationsMichael Trott is a symbolic computation and computer graphics expert. He holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and joined the R&D team at Wolfram Research in 1994, the creators of Mathematica. Since 1998, he has been leading development of the Wolfram Functions Site http://functions.wolfram.com, which currently features more that 80,000 formulas and identities, and thousands of visualizations.