[Tutor] Typing Equations-A Newbie

[Daniel Yoo]

On Wed, 14 Mar 2001 DavidCraig@PIA.CA.GOV wrote:

> How do I type formulas using superscripts/subscripts into Idle?
> 
> I have tried importing them from MS Word to no avail.  Current Platform is
> WIN 98.

Unfortunately, most programming languages don't directly support the use
of subscripts and superscripts --- you'll need to translate them to a
linear form.  For example:

     2     2
    a  +  b

will need to be written as:

    a**2 + b**2

in Python.  Likewise, all the subscripted variables will need to be
renamed.  It depends on one relationship the subscripts are trying to
say: if the subscripts mean some sort of sequence, like:

10
Sum  a
n=0   n

,the sum of a_0, a_2, ..., a_10, then it might be a good idea to give
Python the information that our a's are all part of a sequence, by making
it a list.  Gosh, I feel handwavy today.

If you show us what equation you're trying to encode, we can help find a
way to translate it into Python.  Good luck!