Nelson is a powerful, open-source numerical computational language, developed to provide a comprehensive and intuitive environment for engineers, scientists, and students. With over 1,200 built-in functions, Nelson supports a wide range of tasks, from basic algebra to advanced numerical simulations.
Originally inspired by languages like MATLAB© and GNU Octave, Nelson offers users a lightweight yet feature-rich experience. It is designed to be easy to learn and use, with an emphasis on performance and flexibility.
- Flexible and modular system for custom data types
- Supports data type overloading
- Extensive support for scientific computations
- See Nelson in Action: Screenshots
- Graphical Capabilities: Plotting & Graphics
Nelson offers a wide range of powerful features for scientific computing and engineering:
- Advanced Data Structures: Cell arrays, structs, dictionaries, tables, and linear systems
- Internal Data Types: Flexible and extensible type system
- Overloading: Customizable operator and function behavior
- Modularity: Organize and extend functionality
- External Modules: Integrate third-party libraries
- 2D and 3D Plotting: High-level plot commands for data visualization
- Fast Fourier Transformation: Efficient frequency domain analysis
- Control Systems: Tools for system modeling and analysis
- SLICOT Integration: Advanced control theory algorithms
- Interactive Code Editor: User-friendly development environment
- Build C/C++ On-the-Fly: Seamless integration with compiled languages
- C MEX API Support: Compatibility with existing MEX files
- Nelson Engine API: C API compatible with MEX Engine
- Foreign Function Interface (FFI): Call functions from shared libraries
- Parallel Computing Module: Leverage multi-core processors
- Message Passing Interface (MPI): Distributed computing support
- HDF5 I/O: High-level functions for HDF5 file format
- MAT-File I/O: Read and write MATLAB® compatible files
- JSON Support: Parse and generate JSON data
- Python Integration: Call Python from Nelson
- UI Controls: Create interactive user interfaces
- QML Engine: Design modern UIs with QML
- COM Interface: Interact with COM objects (Windows)
- RESTful Web Services: Create and consume web APIs
- Cloud Computing☁️: Harness cloud resources for computation
- Audio Processing: Work with audio signals and files
- Unicode Support: Handle international character sets
- Validator Functions: Ensure data integrity
- Interprocess Communication (IPC): Facilitate process interaction
Choose your platform and get started with Nelson today!
Download the latest version for Windows
- Explore the Online Documentation for in-depth guides.
- Have questions or facing issues? Submit an Issue
Want to be part of the community? Contribute to the development of Nelson by following our Development Guide.
Nelson is tested and supported on a wide range of platforms. Download options and continuous integration (CI) status are listed below:
| Operating System | Architecture | CI | Binaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 10, 11 | x86-64, i686 | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS Sequoia | ARM64 | ✓ | |
| macOS Sonoma | ARM64 | ✓ | |
| macOS Ventura | x86-64 (64-bit) | ✓ | |
| Ubuntu 24.04 | x86-64 | ✓ | ✓ (Snap) |
| Ubuntu 22.04 | x86-64 | ✓ | ✓ (Snap) |
| Ubuntu 20.04 | x86-64 | ✓ | ✓ (Snap) |
| Fedora 40 | x86-64 | ✓ | ✓ (Snap) |
| ArchLinux | x86-64 | ✓ | ✓ (Snap) |
| Raspbian | ARM v8 (64-bit) |
Note: The continued support of some platforms may depend on community contributions.