The intention of linalg.dev is to provide the user with mostly elementary mathematical tools and letting them use these to form vectors, planes, and matrices. Its purpose is to be a tool for students studying linear algebra to get an intuition of the underlying mathematics behind the concepts in linear algebra. By letting the user play with the vector space in three dimensions, the user may be able to get a better understanding of the concepts. It is also a lot more engaging to play with an actual three-dimensional environment than having to draw it out in mere two dimensions. It can also be used by linear algebra educators, because it is easy to download environments and hand them in as part of assignments.
linalg.dev consists of two parts; the node editor and the three dimensional space that contains the vectors and planes defined by the node editor. The purpose of this tool is to build linear algebra intuition for what the various operations in linear algebra do and represent. By building the concepts with only elementary mathematical operators in the form of nodes, students will learn how the concepts work "behind the scenes" and relate it to whatever is happening in the vector space. It is also faster to iterate in linalg.dev than it is to redraw a two-dimensional space with pen and paper while studying certain concepts. Additionally, it can be used by educators for assignments, because environments can be downloaded and uploaded, so it is easy to hand in environments as part of an assignment.
Many nodes are defined in linalg.dev and can be connected with edges in the node editor. For example, the output of a multiplication node can be connected to the x-axis of a vector. Relations between nodes can be defined in this way and is what makes the tool powerful.
In the space, all vector and plane nodes are shown in a three-dimensional vector space. As the components of the vectors and planes change, they animate to their new position. Furthermore, it is possible to apply matrix transformations to the vector space. These transformations are animated as well.
An in depth manual can be found in the manual.
Contributions are always welcome. Please open an issue with an example environment if you encounter a bug. Also feel free to open an issue with feature requests, such as ideas for new nodes.
The major open source projects that this project relies on are
- THREE.js — The three-dimensional vector space.
- React three fiber — Using THREE.js in React.
- React flow — The node-based editor.
- Radix UI — The accessible user interface components and icons in React.
MIT License