Contents

• 1  Getting started
  • 1.1  Starting Xcas
  • 1.2  XCas as a calculator
  • 1.3  Functions and variables
  • 1.4  Simplifying expressions
  • 1.5  Graphs
  • 1.6  The Help Index
• 2  The interface
  • 2.1  Overview
  • 2.2  The menu bar
  • 2.3  Configuration
  • 2.4  The command line
• 3  Computational objects
  • 3.1  Numbers
  • 3.2  Variables
  • 3.3  Expressions
  • 3.4  Functions
  • 3.5  Lists, sequences and sets
  • 3.6  Characters and strings
  • 3.7  Calculation time and memory space
• 4  Analysis with Xcas
  • 4.1  Derivatives
  • 4.2  Limits and series
  • 4.3  Antiderivatives and integrals
  • 4.4  Solving equations
  • 4.5  Differential equations
• 5  Algebra with Xcas
  • 5.1  Integer arithmetic
  • 5.2  Polynomials and rational functions
  • 5.3  Trigonometry
  • 5.4  Vectors and matrices
  • 5.5  Linear systems
  • 5.6  Matrix reduction
• 6  Graphs
  • 6.1  Curves
  • 6.2  Plane geometry
  • 6.3  3D graphical objects
• 7  Programming
  • 7.1  The language
  • 7.2  Some examples
  • 7.3  Programming style
• 8  Exercises

Xcas is a free (as in Free Software) computer algebra system. Although there are other computer algebra systems, both free and commercial, few if any are as versatile as Xcas, which is capable of, among other things:

• Symbolic and numeric calculation.
• Programming.
• Graphing functions.
• Working with spreadsheets.
• Interactive geometry (both two- and three-dimensional).
• Turtle geometry.

This tutorial will briefly introduce you to calculating, programming and graphing with Xcas. The first section, “Getting started”, will be just enough information to get you started. The second section will be a brief overview of the graphic interface and the rest will be more in-depth tutorial.

For more information, you can refer to the manual or any of the other sources of information under the Help menu.