MathEvaluator API: Integrate Reliable Math Evaluation in Minutes
What it is
An API that evaluates mathematical expressions reliably and securely, returning numeric results, symbolic simplifications, or step-by-step solutions depending on configuration.
Key features
- Expression parsing: Accepts infix math with parentheses, functions (sin, cos, log, etc.), constants (pi, e) and variables.
- Evaluation modes: Numeric evaluation, symbolic simplification, exact rational arithmetic, and step-by-step solution traces.
- Safety sandboxing: Prevents execution of arbitrary code; limits recursion and expression complexity to avoid denial-of-service.
- Units & dimensional checks: Optional validation to ensure consistent units (e.g., meters vs. seconds).
- Custom functions & constants: Register domain-specific functions or constants at runtime.
- Localization: Configurable decimal separators and function name aliases for different locales.
- Error reporting: Structured error responses with position, type (syntax, domain, overflow), and hints.
Typical API endpoints
| Endpoint | Purpose | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| /evaluate | Compute numeric result | expression, variables, precision | result, units (optional), evaluation_time |
| /simplify | Symbolically simplify expression | expression | simplified_expression, steps (optional) |
| /solve | Solve equations or systems | expression(s), variable(s) | solutions (array), steps (optional) |
| /steps | Return procedural steps | expression, target_variable | step_list |
| /validate | Check units/dimensions | expression, unitsmap | valid(boolean), errors |
Example usage (HTTP)
http
POST /evaluate Content-Type: application/json { “expression”: “2*sin(pi/4) + x”, “variables”: { “x”: 3 } }
Response:
json
{ “result”: 4.414213562373095, “precision”: 15, “evaluation_time_ms”: 2 }
Integration tips
- Send numeric variables as numbers, symbolic as strings.
- Use the simplify endpoint before evaluation when exact forms are required.
- Cache parsed expressions (if supported) to reduce latency for repeated evaluations.
- Limit user-submitted expression length and nesting depth to protect the service.
Security & reliability
- Enforce timeouts and resource quotas per request.
- Sanitize and parse in a dedicated math engine, not via eval-like functions.
- Provide versioned API to avoid breaking client integrations.
Pricing & deployment (assumed defaults)
- Free tier: limited requests/day, low concurrency.
- Paid tiers: higher rate limits, enterprise SLA, on-premise or private cloud deployment options.
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