Solving a linear equation

math linear-algebra system linear-equation
Adam Ernst picture Adam Ernst · Aug 3, 2008 · Viewed 37.1k times · Source

I need to programmatically solve a system of linear equations in C, Objective C, or (if needed) C++.

Here's an example of the equations:

-44.3940 = a * 50.0 + b * 37.0 + tx
-45.3049 = a * 43.0 + b * 39.0 + tx
-44.9594 = a * 52.0 + b * 41.0 + tx

From this, I'd like to get the best approximation for a, b, and tx.

Answer

Brian Jorgensen picture Brian Jorgensen · Aug 3, 2008

Cramer's Rule and Gaussian Elimination are two good, general-purpose algorithms (also see Simultaneous Linear Equations). If you're looking for code, check out GiNaC, Maxima, and SymbolicC++ (depending on your licensing requirements, of course).

EDIT: I know you're working in C land, but I also have to put in a good word for SymPy (a computer algebra system in Python). You can learn a lot from its algorithms (if you can read a bit of python). Also, it's under the new BSD license, while most of the free math packages are GPL.

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