SageMathCloud for OpenDreamKit

Part of OpenDreamKit’s mission is to work on user interfaces for better collaboration and also component architectures. This is why the SageMathCloud platform is of special interest for us. One of our tasks is even to have a deeper look into its code base. In this post, as part of our Review on emerging technologies, we propose an overview of the platform.

What is SageMathCloud?

SageMathCloud is an online platform which allows the creation of collaborative scientific projects including many scientific softwares and tools like SageMath, Jupyter, SciPy, Julia, Latex, and more.

Its codebase is open-source, distributed under the GNU General Public License. The platform is run by a private company (SageMath Inc.) created by William Stein who is also the initiator of the SageMath software. The platform offers both free and paying premium accounts.

Projects

The main tool of the SageMathCloud platform is the possibility to create projects from which you can access the many features. A single user can create as many projects as needed. Each project is an independant Linux virtual machine. It thus comes with a full file system and an online terminal that allows you to run Linux commands. The storage of each project is limited by default but can be extended on premium accounts. You can access the files through the SageMathCloud web interface or also through ssh.

One key feature is that each project can be shared by multiple users. This allows sharing access to the files and also real time editing though the platform. Single files or folders can also be made public. A link is then provided which allows either viewing or downloading the files (even without a SageMathCloud account) and also an easy way to copy onto a different SageMathCloud project owned by the viewer.

Softwares

When you create a SageMathCloud project, your Linux virtual machine comes with many softwares and tools especially useful for mathematicians and scientists in general. We list here the most important ones.

Notebooks: SMC, Sage and Jupyter

SageMathCloud offers very inovative features in terms of notebooks which should be studied both on technichal and usability aspects.

Sharing and teaching with SageMathCloud

Accessibility

The great advantage of SageMathCloud is that it offers a complete scientific environment without the usual setting up hassle. It makes the different software very easy to access independently of the user personal system as long as there is an access to a good Internet connexion. As an example, a mathematician can share a demo of code (in a Jupyter or a Sage notebook) that could be used directly by its collaborators. Of course, the Internet access is itself a limit. Given poor network access, for example but not only in some developing countries where bandwidth is sometimes limited.

Teaching

When teaching is concerned, the sharing facilities of SageMathCloud come very useful. Moreover, the platform offers a course managing system. The principle is as follows: the teacher has acces to a “main project” containing the class material; every student has its own project which is shared with the teacher. The course management system allows for automatic actions like:

An assignment is just a folder. It can have multiple content depending on the class. Of course, the system is especially interesting when the assignment is given within an interactive worksheet and can then be achieved by the student directly on the interface. SageMathCloud then becomes a very good interface to initiate students to the many scientific softwares it offers.

SageMathCloud and OpenDreamKit

The many features of SageMathCloud make it a very interesting project for OpenDreamKit to look at. Indeed, it offers one of the leading technologies for scientists in terms of cloud project management, teaching and sharing facilities. In particular it showcases a collection of features that have been selected and adopted by a wide community.It also has some limits which we would like to address through our project:

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