1.1 Installation

If you do not have Sage installed on a computer, and just want to try some Sage commands, use the Sage notebook online (there is a link from http://sage.math.washington.edu/sage).

See the document Installing Sage in the documentation section of the main webpage of Sage [SA] for instructions on installing Sage on your computer. Here we merely make two comments.

The Sage download file comes with ``batteries included''. In other words, although Sage uses Python, IPython, PARI, GAP, Singular, Maxima, NTL, GMP, and so on, you do not need to install them separately as they are included with the Sage distribution. However, to use certain Sage features, e.g., Macaulay or KASH, you must install the relevant optional Sage package or at least have the relevant programs installed on your computer already. Macaulay and KASH are Sage packages (type sage -optional for a list of available optional packages). For the exact versions of the standard Sage packages, go to the Sage website and choose ``Download'' then ``standard''.
The pre-compiled binary version of Sage (found on the Sage web site) may be easier and quicker to install than the source code version. Just unpack the file and run sage.

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