Yup. The goal was guide rails.... it'll still let you do non optimal things... just not totally illegal things. Hopefully if you do it enough you can take the guide rails off and still know what to do.
It uses https://capacitorjs.com/ and I'm super happy with this choice. I think it feels fast simply because solving simple algebra problems is very light work these days (and of course its all on device... so no waiting on the network).
I updated the underlying engine (and its live on the web version here: https://dicroce.github.io/wyrm/home.html). There is some new powers examples in the drop down. Irrational roots are a potential next step.
I'm adding at least basic support for random practice problems in the release I'll be dropping in a few days. If I can get to it I may also be adding a more gamified "practice" mode.
This is actually a great find. I update the engine and the change is live on the web version. I will probably wait a couple of days on updating the mobile apps to see if any more fixes need to be made (there is a whole app approval process they have to go through and I want to minimize that).
Probably it's most important feature for applications like this is that the id's of elements in the equations are stable (meaning, if an X has an id of 123 and a transformation moves it to the other side of the equals sign, it still has id 123... this allows you animate between states if you wish).
There is a mobile game called DragonBox. It sort of tricks you into learning algebra by starting with very abstract manipulations of a puzzle that must follow rules... gradually the game teaches you more and more rules and also strips out the more abstract elements until on the last levels you are finally solving real equations. I loved it, it taught my kids algebra.... and it was just fun.
Over the years I often thought that there should be a calculator for Algebra that works this way... something where you can drag terms around and cancel & distribute with gestures, but most importantly enter your own problems. It should also do more kinds of problems than DragonBox allowed. So I finally decided to build it.
If you'd rather just play with it: there's a limited in-browser demo (real engine, a few example equations, no download) on the landing page — https://dicroce.github.io/wyrm/home.html.
I'd love feedback on the engine design — especially from anyone who's worked on CAS or proof-assistant-adjacent problems. And if you played DragonBox as a kid and wished it went further: this is for you.
Lego blocks are how I like to think about software components... They may not be the perfect shape you need but you can iterate fast. In fact my favorite software development model is just to iterate on your lego blocks until the app you need is some trivial combination of your blocks.
Ok, maybe someone here can clear this up for me. My understanding of B+tree's is that they are good for implementing indexes on disk because the fanout reduces disk seeks... what I don't understand is in memory b+trees... which most of the implementations I find are. What are the advantages of an in memory b+tree?