A developer explains how they built a Python-based engine similar to Wolfram Mathematica, utilizing libraries like SymPy for symbolic math, NumPy, pandas, and SciPy for scientific computing, and statsmodels and Pingouin for regression analysis, making complex math more accessible and less stressful.
Computational environments, such as R package renv and conda, help researchers manage their software dependencies, ensuring reproducibility, reusability, documentation, and shareability of their code. These tools allow users to create isolated environments with specific versions of programming tools and libraries, making it easier to explore new or updated tools while ensuring that their code will still run. However, limitations exist, such as difficulty encapsulating tools written in certain languages and porting environments across operating systems.