Sym is a tool for working with symbolic content. It's designed to create, edit, and manipulate equations and other symbolic content. It can also create documents that contain equations and export those documents to LaTeX, HTML and other destinations. The first version of Sym is currently in beta testing.

This is the first beta version of Sym, so there is a lot of work left to do. Sym uses libraries to define the symbolic objects that can be used to create equations. You can extend the existing libraries and create entirely new libraries. In this first beta version, the libraries that are included are fairly limited, but they do cover enough material so that you can do, for example, algebra, trig and basic calculus. There are a number of other libraries in the works, but building a full set of libraries is way too big a project for a single person. Feedback about how easy it is to create new libraries is very high on the list of goals for this beta test.

The list is fairly long - it includes anyone who:

• Is interested in mathematics or the physical sciences
• Is a student taking classes in mathematics or any of the physical sciences
• Is an instructor teaching classes that require solving mathematical equations
• Needs to put equations in a document (right now, export to LaTeX and HTML have been implemented, but exporting to other destinations is also possible)

Bug reports (of course), but right now even more important is and feedback on your experience using the Sym application. What's easy to understand, what's hard. What we need to cover better in the documentation and tutorials. What features you would like to see added first, and so on. This kind of feedback is critical, especially at the start.

The approach that has been taken in the Sym application is fairly unique - right now, what is most important is to know whether what's been done here is easy to understand, very confusing, or somewhere in between.

Just download and install the app. The first time you run Sym, you'll be asked to provide your name and and email address. We'll send an email to confirm the address you provide - just click the link in the email and you'll be ready to go.

There are example documents to help you get started and the documentation is reasonably complete.

Send bug reports and feedback to support@symbolicware.com or use the Send Feedback menu item in the Help menu of the application.