What is Ket

Ket is a minimalist, immersive algebra editor for the keyboard literate.

Who should use Ket?

This program is provided for people who regularly perform not-too-specialized algebra at or around a computer. The program takes time to learn, but will, in time, provide a fast and efficient method to manipulate algebra. Additionally, Ket is able to teach by providing a different and more immersive environment in which a user may experiment with algebra from a new perspective.

There are a number of advantages over paper-based algebra in that it is searchable, may be backed up, and can be exported as text, HTML. It is the goal of this project to enable algebra speeds limited only by the mind of the mathematician. That is, although it provides a great many commands to be mastered, with experience, the keyboard literate user will be given an impressive environment in which they are able to concentrate only on the mathematics of the problem, free from poor handwriting, extensive hand-copying, coffee stains and blackboard cleaning.

Motivation

Existing mathematical programs largely fall into three categories: numerical programming (python), mathematical mark-up languages (Tex, MathML) and computational algebra (Mathematica). None of these program types focus on facilitating human algebraic manipulation. Mathematics has in many ways been transformed by such approaches, however algebraic manipulation lags being these other areas. This is due to the complexity and precision required in writing and manipulating algebra. As a result, mathematicians commonly resort to paper-and-pencil or whiteboard calculations.

Computers continue to replace older methods of solving problems and have moved far towards the paperless office ideal in a number of tasks. Perhaps the most successful area in which this has taken place is in text editing. Here myriad programs have been written to address what is on the surface a straightforward task, but due to the amount of text to be edited to produce books and web pages, and the reliability required in writing readable computer programs, concision and reliability in text editing has received particular attention. Out of these have grown tools such as Vim which greatly simplify complex tasks. While the focus of most basic text editors focus only on the direct entry or deletion of text, these more advanced alternatives focus on editing.

Many of these features have analogies in manipulating mathematical expressions. The Ket program focuses on the speed and efficiency of equation manipulation as these being key features in performing algebra. It does so by drawing on the rich set of tools provided by text editors.

Algebra consists of modifying and merging equations in order to gradually transform a series of initial expressions (axioms; laws etc.) into a desired form (the answer, a special case, or re-expressed as a pattern). That is, the core of algebra is equation editing and it is exactly such an edit-focussed approach that Ket has been designed around.

Licence

Ket is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

This program is available for use by anyone, and is provided free of charge and at the users own risk.

A program such as this was never expected to reach a wide enough audience to prove profitable. As a result, if you find this program useful, its continued existence is down to word of mouth promotion. Additionally, its future development will be directed by recommendations, suggestions, bug reports and contributions by users and developers.