An Elementary Introduction to the Wolfram Language

As the world's first and only full-scale computational language, the Wolfram Language represents a milestone in the development of programming languages that makes leading-edge computation accessible to everyone. Unique in its approach of building in vast knowledge and automation, the Wolfram Language scales from a single line of easy-to-understand interactive code to million-line production systems.

This book provides an elementary introduction to the Wolfram Language and modern computational thinking. It assumes no prior knowledge of programming, and is suitable for both technical and non-technical college and middle-to-high-school students—as well as anyone with an interest in the latest technology and its practical application. Run everything in this book in any Wolfram environment on the web or your desktop.

Information and Media Inquiries

Third Edition April 11, 2023 Publication
Publicity and Interviews: sw-media@wolfram.com
Trim Size: 7" x 10"
Non-Fiction: Computer Programming

Distribution by Ingram, Amazon and Baker & Taylor

UK Distribution: Turnaround Publisher Services

Contents

• Preface

• What Is the Wolfram Language?
• Practicalities of Using the Wolfram Language
• Other Resources
• 1. Starting Out: Elementary Arithmetic
• 2. Introducing Functions
• 3. First Look at Lists
• 4. Displaying Lists
• 5. Operations on Lists
• 6. Making Tables
• 7. Colors and Styles
• 8. Basic Graphics Objects
• 9. Interactive Manipulation
• 10. Images
• 11. Strings and Text
• 12. Sound
• 13. Arrays, or Lists of Lists
• 14. Coordinates and Graphics
• 15. The Scope of the Wolfram Language
• 16. Real-World Data
• 17. Units
• 18. Geocomputation
• 19. Dates and Times
• 20. Options
• 21. Graphs and Networks
• 22. Machine Learning
• 23. More about Numbers
• 24. More Forms of Visualization
• 25. Ways to Apply Functions
• 26. Pure Anonymous Functions
• 27. Applying Functions Repeatedly
• 28. Tests and Conditionals
• 29. More about Pure Functions
• 30. Rearranging Lists
• 31. Parts of Lists
• 32. Patterns
• 33. Expressions and Their Structure
• 34. Associations
• 35. Natural Language Understanding
• 36. Creating Websites and Apps
• 37. Layout and Display
• 38. Assigning Names to Things
• 39. Immediate and Delayed Values
• 40. Defining Your Own Functions
• 41. More about Patterns
• 42. String Patterns and Templates
• 43. Storing Things
• 44. Importing and Exporting
• 45. Datasets
• 46. Audio and Video
• 47. Writing Good Code
• 48. Debugging Your Code
• What We Haven't Discussed
• Afterword: Being a Programmer
• Where to Go Next
• Answers to Exercises
• Index

About the Author

Stephen Wolfram is the creator of the Wolfram Language, as well as Wolfram|Alpha and Mathematica. He has been a pioneer in the science and technology of computation for over four decades. Starting out in physics research in his early teens, he has made many important contributions to science, including his groundbreaking 2002 book A New Kind of Science and the Wolfram Physics Project, launched in 2020. Since 1987, Wolfram has been the CEO of Wolfram Research, one of the world's most respected software companies, known for its long history of technical innovation.

Other Books by Stephen Wolfram

• The Second Law: Resolving the Mystery of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
• What Is ChatGPT Doing ... and Why Does It Work?
• Metamathematics: Foundations & Physicalization
• Twenty Years of A New Kind of Science
• Combinators: A Centennial View
• A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics
• Adventures of a Computational Explorer
• Idea Makers: Personal Perspectives on the Lives & Ideas of Some Notable People
• A New Kind of Science