An Interface for Accessing External Numerical Libraries

Volume 1, Issue 2
Fall 1990

As an example of how one can improve Mathematica's capabilities for large-scale numerical simulations, we explain how to implement an interface between  Mathematica and a numerically-efficient external C function for integrating sets of ordinary differential equations. The user specifies the problem symbolically in Mathematica, which is then automatically parsed, compiled and executed, with the output returned in symbolic form for further analysis within Mathematica. We also discuss various kinds of errors that can arise in different parts of the interface.