What Are Computational Notebooks?
As pioneered by Wolfram, computational notebooks are the primary medium for modern technical communication and innovation, mixing text, graphics and live code to express ideas in a convenient and accurate way.
What Makes Wolfram Notebooks Unique?
Wolfram Notebooks embody the total integration of document, application and development environment for a transformative technical workflow. Furthermore, they are the world's only document type built with the same human-readable language that implements its algorithms and underlies its own format as well as its contents. A document runs a program, or a program runs a document—always interchangeable, completely flexible and intuitive.
Workflows that rely on varied languages, differing components and mixed-source algorithm libraries undermine efficiency and clarity. Wolfram Notebooks together with the Wolfram Language power a uniquely versatile interactive framework that supports highly automated, cross-platform enterprise computation and communication in any field without compromise.
Use Wolfram Notebooks to...
Build interactive reports
(business intelligence, data science, system administration, ...)
Generate live dashboards
(finance, marketing, engineering, ...)
Automate content creation
(websites, emails, reports, invoices, ...)
Develop and deploy production software
(applications, packages, APIs, ...)
Manage group workflows
(team coding, cluster computing, codebase management, ...)
Code applications interactively
(livecoding, scripting, exploratory programming, ...)
Develop and deploy production software
(applications, packages, APIs, ...)
Manage group workflows
(team coding, cluster computing, codebase management, ...)
Code applications interactively
(livecoding, scripting, exploratory programming, ...)
Create quick prototypes
(engineering, hackathons, model development, unit testing, ...)
Publish computable documents
(essays, lessons, journal articles, books, ...)
Give live presentations
(keynotes, lectures, lightning talks, demos, ...)
Learn computational thinking
(natural language programming, guided examples, code challenges ...)
Compute on any platform
(desktop, web, mobile, embedded)
Share computations anywhere
(web forms, user interfaces, multimedia, ...)
Key Features of Wolfram Notebooks
Why Wolfram Notebooks
Fully integrated ecosystem
Wolfram Notebooks are created and manipulated using the Wolfram Language, which includes built-in connections to the Wolfram Knowledgebase, Wolfram Cloud and other Wolfram technologies for a seamless cross-platform experience.
Everything is computable
All Wolfram Notebook content—text, images, code, even the notebook itself—can be made part of a computation within our flexible, coherent data framework, providing a unified platform for interface creation, history tracking, document generation and low-level customizations.
Interactive development tools
Wolfram Notebooks include a range of user interface tools for code completion, image editing and vector graphics, as well as high-level documentation—available through an intelligent toolbar that gives suggestions based on your current computation.
Dynamic deployments
Published documents and webpages are fully interactive and editable, driven by real-time computation instead of pre-computed results.
Hierarchical structure
Notebook content is automatically placed into collapsible cell groupings for quick organization and editing, as well as efficient navigation while viewing and evaluating.
Flexible formatting
Our symbolic formatting and styling system goes beyond basic markdown, allowing you to apply professional typesetting, custom visual styles and interactivity to any type of content—text and headings, formulas and diagrams, or even code.
Modular workspace
Conveniently access and interact with documents, packages, utilities, data and other essential elements of your workflow in a single unified system.
Is Your Notebook Fully Computational?
Though many variations exist, most notebook systems provide only a small slice of the functionality needed. For achieving robust results with minimal effort, the ideal computational notebook should...
Make computation easy
- Interactive input assistance
- Built-in function documentation
- Natural language input
Optimize for interactivity
- Immediate editing and reevaluation of code
- Highly automated functions
- Easy construction of dynamic exploratory interfaces
- Fully interactive deployments
Unify code and data
- Data compatibility across methods
- Pre-structured computable data sources
- Documents that can be used in computations
Provide universal access
- Native, local execution on desktop and mobile
- Browser-accessible cloud development and deployment
- Consistency across all platforms
- A variety of private and public sharing options
Why Speak the Wolfram Language...
Underlying everything we do is the Wolfram Language. Designed for the new generation of programmers, the Wolfram Language has a vast depth of built-in algorithms and knowledge, all automatically accessible through its elegant unified symbolic language.
- Built-in Computable Knowledge
- World's Largest Algorithmbase
- Document-Based Workflow
- High-Level Automation
- Instant Computable Knowledge
- Multiparadigm Language
- Integrated All-in-One Platform
- Symbolic-Numeric Methodology
- Broad Subject Coverage
- Universality of Platform
- Natural Language Integration
- Interactive Interfaces
Scalable for programs from tiny to huge, with immediate deployment locally and in the cloud, the Wolfram Language builds on clear principles—and over three decades of development—to create what promises to be the world's most productive programming language.
