Math and Plotting for Non-Programmers

A Quick Data Tool

© Lead Image © Lily, photocase.com

© Lead Image © Lily, photocase.com

Article from Issue 311/2026
Author(s):

Use Octave to plot and run statistics on CSV files in as little as one line of code.

While spreadsheets are great for detailed engineering and science projects, sometimes you just want to do some quick calculations or data checks. For cases like these, Octave [1] might be the perfect solution for you.

Octave is a free, open source alternative to MATLAB [2], a popular engineering tool used in many aerospace, electrical engineering, and academic applications.

Unlike Python, which needs to import libraries, Octave and MATLAB have key math, matrix, and plotting features built into their base packages. This lean design allows users to analyze problems with just a few lines of code.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Download Article PDF now with Express Checkout
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

Related content

  • PelicanHPC

    Crunch big numbers with your very own high-performance computing cluster.

  • Free Software Projects

    Linux is a wonderful and underrated audio production platform, with great applications for every audio task. MuseScore and LilyPond bring elegance and sophistication to score writing, and Chordii is a wonderfully simple guitar sheet-music maker.

  • FOSSPicks

    This month Graham looks at Cardinal, Celestia 1.7.0, Friture, Wavetable, Helix Editor, Brogue CE, and more!

  • Pi Flight Simulator

    A Raspberry Pi 4B with Linux can solve the equations for a real-time nonlinear aircraft simulation, including the emulation of modern aircraft flight displays.

  • Tutorial – Matplotlib

    Matplotlib offers so many options that you may have trouble deciding on which ones to use for your plots.

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News