How does a website like Mathway work?
- by Bob
I recently found a website called Mathway
Basically, it works by allowing you to choose your "level of math" (which it uses to determine what tools it should provide to you) and then allows you to input a math problem which it then solves for you, and gives you detailed solutions (you have to try it, it's really cool).
I was wondering how it worked on two levels. First off, how would they parse the math problem (and all the sometimes foreign mathematical operators)? How do they get from text to numbers, variables, and operators?
Second, how do they generate the explanations? While you have to pay for the detailed solutions (which are explanations of how they solved the problem), I've seen their preview screenshots, and it looks very detailed. The explanations are given in full, accurate sentences. How would they generate something like that?
