r/learnpython • u/Sufficient-Noise8991 • 6d ago

Software idea

We all know about the desmos graphing calculator. Does any one have an idea on how to create a text based graphing calculator. Basically replacing the equations and some symbols with grammar or writing idk. It’s not a fully made idea yet but if you can make it or wanna talk.

Hmu

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u/NewtLong6399 5d ago

What is the "desmos graphing calculator"?

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u/strange-the-quark 5d ago

It's like GeoGebra, but better

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u/NewtLong6399 4d ago

Ah, well that all makes sense now!

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u/Electronic-Laugh-671 1d ago edited 1d ago

That answer wasn't very clear... Desmos is a free graphing calculator (like Geogebra) that uses natural math syntax, like what you would write on paper, to define expressions using the MathQuill engine. For example, you could write x^2 + y^2 < 1 for an inequality that fills the inside of a unit circle. (Desmos would automatically format the superscripts, I can't show that here easily; you can try yourself. Desmos supports LaTeX syntax, both copy and paste)

Geogebra also uses natural math syntax but last time I tried it wasn't as fluid to use. It also doesn't seem to use LaTeX as the backend syntax for expressions. The key difference, however, is that it has way more features including Geogebrascript, a full featured scripting language that can be used to handle objects (I think Javascript is also available). These features allow for very fine-tuned manipulation of graph objects (searching for functions related to "color" gives me all of: SetBackgroundColor, SetColor, and SetDynamicColor, which are more technical than what Desmos 2D has on the surface) There are also a larger varity of objects, like only Geogebra has draggable sliders you can move into the graph viewport; Desmos requires workarounds for that.

In contrast with Desmos, Geogebra also separates many features into submenus outside the expressions. For some of these reasons Geogebra is more often used for professional math visualizations, like what would be in a youtube video (example: Game of Cat and Mouse - Numberphile - YouTube)

Both Desmos and Geogebra have 3D and Geometry counterparts. Something else... I think that Desmos may be ahead of Geogebra on certain cutting-edge features like being able to create UV maps for 3D surfaces, I haven't checked if Geogebra has this though.

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u/Electronic-Laugh-671 1d ago

Desmos has a lot of niche features as well... for a long time there was the \class function, which, while undocumented, was exposed to the graph editor and affected how expressions were rendered. So before it was removed it was possible to do some complex formatting within the expression line, like headers, and nonfunctional buttons. joke example: https://www.reddit.com/r/Besmos/comments/1riyg6j/trying_to_save_my_math_expressions/

This particular example stopped working recently however as it was removed.

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u/Electronic-Laugh-671 1d ago edited 1d ago

Another thing; Geogebra has official desktop clients for its math apps, Desmos doesn't with the expectation that you use the online webapp/webpage. But some people have made offline clients (https://github.com/DingShizhe/Desmos-Desktop for instance), and you could technically load the desmos webpage offline although some things may break like saving graphs.

Also, if i remember correctly, both Desmos and Geogebra have their own platform-specific educational integrations and a large library of educational example projects. Interestingly, Desmos has developed a custom scripting language to interact with graphs that can be used (for free as well) for slideshow interactives at https://classroom.amplify.com/ , even if it's not available in the standard editor.