Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha

Theodore Gray of Wolfram Research says Wolfram Alpha is more than just a fact engine, it’s a computation engine:

It’s not so much that it would have been impossible to do without Mathematica, but that it would have been impractically difficult. In fact, the easiest way to create Wolfram Alpha without Mathematica would have been to write Mathematica first, then use it. Which is precisely what we have spent the past 23 years doing.

★ Sunday, 3 May 2009