Scilab is a numerical computational package developed since 1990 by researchers from the INRIA (Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique) and the École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC). It is, since the creation of the Scilab consortium in May 2003, developed and maintained by the INRIA. It is a high level programming language in that most of its functionality is based around the ability to specify many computations with few lines of code. It does this primarily by abstracting primitive data types to functionally equivalent matrices. (from Wikipedia). In short Scilab consists of several well-integrated components:

Atoms: it is the packaging system for Scilab’s modules. Thanks to ATOMS, any user running Scilab on a supported operating system is able to install any modules from Scilab or third-party repositories with only three clicks or with just one Scilab command.

Graphics: text rendering with LaTeX / MathML. It enables the integration of mathematical equations, greek variables, matrix displays and so on. This feature is available in any cases where text can be set in the graphic (label, tick, title, xstring and so on).

XCos: since 5.2.0 Beta 1 version of Scilab, Xcos is developed simultaneously and together with Scilab, and replaces Scicos in Scilab distributions. With a new ergonomic and efficient block diagrams editor, XCos provides functionalities for modeling mechanical systems and control systems, and is particularly suitable for industrial and academic needs.

Text editor: since 5.2.0 Beta 1 a new text editor is implemented in Scilab. The editor now follows the look and feel of Scilab and is integrated into the docking system. The following features are available:

• Syntaxic colorization;
• Automatic indentation;
• Line numbering;
• Execute into Scilab;
• Comment / uncomment of blocks;
• Go to line.