The REDUCE computer algebra system is not in the public domain, but it is available at a low price (cost recovery for improving, porting, supporting, and distributing it). In addition, there is a very generous site license policy in effect.

REDUCE is based on a subset of Lisp called Standard Lisp. In order to help users choose the best version of REDUCE for their purposes, we describe the general characteristics of the relevant Lisps, followed by a list of the distributors and a table of the particular versions supported on each machine.

The distributed versions of REDUCE are based on two easily available Lisps, namely:

1. Portable Standard Lisp (PSL). This is currently the Lisp used most widely for running REDUCE. It evolved from the original Standard Lisp definition, but now contains many more facilities. It is quite efficient in its use of both space and time, and has been optimized for algebraic computation. All PSL versions of REDUCE are distributed with sufficient PSL support to run on the given computing system. PSL is supported on many architectures and is an ideal system for those wanting to run REDUCE as a standalone system. The current principal developer of PSL is the Konrad Zuse Center, Berlin (ZIB).
2. Codemist Standard Lisp (CSL). This is a Lisp system written completely in ANSI C, which makes it very easy to port to a new machine. Like PSL, it is a faithful implementation of Standard Lisp and has been optimized for running REDUCE. It requires a very small memory partition for its Lisp support. Furthermore, most of the REDUCE facilities are supported as machine independent pseudocode, which is quite compact. In the worst case, the performance of this system is about a factor of two slower than PSL, though in many cases it matches PSL performance. However, the memory use is smaller. All CSL versions are distributed with sufficient CSL support to run on the given computing system. This is an ideal system for those wishing to embed algebraic calculations in a C-based programming environment. The developer of CSL is Codemist Ltd.

The current distributors of REDUCE are the following:

ZIB

offer a PSL based version for a wide range of computers. Online REDUCE ordering information is available from ZIB. Their address is:

Winfried Neun
Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum für Informationstechnik Berlin (ZIB)
Takustr. 7
D-14195 Berlin-Dahlem, GERMANY
E-Mail: neun@zib.de

Codemist

offer a C based version of REDUCE using their own CSL written in C. Online REDUCE ordering information is available from Codemist. Their address is:

Codemist Ltd.
"Alta", Horsecombe Vale
Combe Down
Bath BA2 5QR, UNITED KINGDOM
E-Mail: jpff@codemist.co.uk

Versions Available

The following table describes the versions of REDUCE supported by the various distributors. Contact them for detailed price and availability information.

The generic ANSI C version forms the basis of the more specialized CSL versions listed below. In addition it can be built for a wide range of Unix systems and has run on a variety of more unusual platforms. Contact Codemist Ltd. for advice about its suitability in particular cases.