The WWW Interactive Multipurpose Server (WIMS) (sometimes referred to as ''WWW Interactive Mathematics Server'') project is designed for supporting intensive

mathematical exercise A mathematical exercise is a routine application of algebra or other mathematics to a stated challenge. Mathematics teachers assign mathematical exercises to develop the skills of their students. Early exercises deal with addition, subtraction, ...

s via the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

or in a computer-equipped classroom with server-side interactivity, accessible at the address http://wims.unice.fr. The system has the following main features: *A modular design allowing applications and software interfaces to be created and maintained independently from each other. *Features interfaces for software including MuPAD, PARI/GP,

Gnuplot gnuplot is a command-line and GUI program that can generate two- and three-dimensional plots of functions, data, and data fits. The program runs on all major computers and operating systems (Linux, Unix, Microsoft Windows, macOS, FreeDOS, an ...

POV-Ray The Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer, most commonly acronymed as POV-Ray, is a cross-platform ray-tracing program that generates images from a text-based scene description. It was originally based on DKBTrace, written by David Kirk Buck and Aaro ...

, Co. *Dynamic rendering of mathematical formulas and animated graphics. *A structure of virtual classes, including mechanisms for automatic score gathering and processing. The program is open source and freely available under the

GNU General Public Licence The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general us ...

, however each WIMS module has its own copyright policy, which may differ from that of the server program. It is often cited and linked for its sophisticated "online calculator" tools capable of generating animated

GIF The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on 15 June 1987. ...

s of parametric 2D or 3D graphs or allowing prime tests with very large numbers.

Author

Xiao Gang was a professor at

University of Nice Sophia Antipolis The University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (french: Université Nice Sophia Antipolis) was a university located in Nice, France and neighboring areas. It was founded in 1965 and was organized in eight faculties, two autonomous institutes and an eng ...

. He was interested in solar energy and algebraic geometry. He was also the active site manager of the WIMS of the university he worked for. Xiao Gang died on June 27, 2014. Xiao Gang taught himself during the

Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement The Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement, often known simply as the Down to the Countryside Movement, was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China between mid 1950s and 1978. As a result of what he perceived to ...

. He obtained his master's degree from the

University of Science and Technology of China A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. Xiao obtained his Ph.D. degree from

University of Paris-Sud Paris-Sud University (French: ''Université Paris-Sud''), also known as University of Paris — XI (or as Université d'Orsay before 1971), was a French research university distributed among several campuses in the southern suburbs of Paris, in ...

in 1984. Xiao Gang returned to China and became a lecturer at

East China Normal University East China Normal University (ECNU) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Shanghai, China. It was formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University (est. 1924) and Kwang Hua University (est. 1925) and origin ...

. He was promoted to professor in 1986, and was awarded the Shiing-Shen Chern Prize in Mathematics in 1991. In 1992, Xiao became a professor at

External links

English WIMS at wims.unice.fr
- The WIMS of the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the most popular WIMS UNICE WIMS first Google Result
/ref> for it was the first one and is hosted at the creator's university.
WIMS at wims.ac-nice.fr
- The WIMS of the Académie de Nice - One of the few featuring a redesigned skin.
English WIMS help

List of WIMS Servers/Mirrors at wims.unice.fr

- Paper on WIMS by XIAO, Gang written in 1999
WIMS download page

Interface to the ''Direc exec'' WIMS module
- This gives direct code access to many other WIMS modules (e.g. the

renderer or a C compiler).
A list of frequent citers of unice.fr WIMS modules (some Wikipedia articles)

List of the online calculators available
sorted by popularity.
WIMS EDU association site.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Www Interactive Multipurpose Server Servers (computing)