Summary of New Features in 12.0

A list of key new features since 11.3, including features experimental in 12.0.

Full list of new features and updates since 11.0 »

Core Language

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Object Information

Information (updated) — broad support for extracting information about objects

Functional Programming

SubsetMap — apply a function "in place" to subsets of elements

TakeLargest (updated) — new notation to report multiple properties of the results

Keys, Values (updated) — support for wrapping results with a function before evaluation

AllowedHeads — specify heads to consider in operations

Ordering Functions

ReverseSortBy ▪ OrderingBy

SortBy (updated) — now also with the ability to sort by an ordering function

Mathematical Computation

Asymptotic Computation »

AsymptoticSum — asymptotic approximation to a sum

AsymptoticRSolveValue — asymptotic approximation to a difference equation

AsymptoticSolve — asymptotic approximation to an equation

Improved Functions

Integrate, Sum, Product (updated) — now can generate constants of integration etc.

Integrate (updated) — improved elementary function integration

DSolve (updated) — improved nonlinear first-order equation solving

Solve, Reduce (updated) — improved solving of large sparse systems

FunctionDomain (updated) — improved coverage and performance

Root (updated) — now has compact informative typesetting

Matrix Predicates

DiagonalMatrixQ — test whether a matrix is diagonal

UpperTriangularMatrixQ ▪ LowerTriangularMatrixQ

Symbolic Domains

PositiveReals ▪ NegativeReals ▪ NonNegativeReals ▪ NonPositiveReals

PositiveRationals ▪ NegativeRationals ▪ NonNegativeRationals ▪ NonPositiveRationals

PositiveIntegers ▪ NegativeIntegers ▪ NonNegativeIntegers ▪ NonPositiveIntegers

Theorem Proving

AxiomaticTheory — curated axioms, theorems, etc. for standard theories

Numerical Computation

Numerical Uncertainty

Around — number or quantity x±δ with symmetric or asymmetric uncertainty

VectorAround ▪ AroundReplace ▪ MeanAround

Nonlinear Finite Elements »

NDSolve (updated) — can now solve nonlinear PDEs over arbitrary domains using FEM

InitialSeeding — initial seeding for nonlinear boundary value problems

N-Body Simulation

NBodySimulation — simulation of idealized -body systems

NBodySimulationData — representation of an -body simulation

Numerical Display Forms

PercentForm ▪ MixedFractionParts ▪ NumeratorDenominator

Matrix Predicates

DiagonalMatrixQ ▪ UpperTriangularMatrixQ ▪ LowerTriangularMatrixQ

Optimized Numeric Arrays

NumericArray — construct a compact representation of a numeric array

NumericArrayQ ▪ NumericArrayType

Numerical Optimization

Convex Optimization Solvers »

LinearOptimization — minimize

LinearFractionalOptimization — minimize

QuadraticOptimization — minimize

SemidefiniteOptimization — minimize

SecondOrderConeOptimization — minimize

ConicOptimization — minimize

General Optimization Solvers »

FindMinimum, NMinimize (updated) — automatically transforms to convex optimization

FindMaximum ▪ FindMinValue ▪ FindArgMin ▪ NMaximize ▪ NMinValue ▪ ...

Regularization in Fitting

Fit, FindFit (updated) — now supports regularization (LASSO, ridge regression, ...)

Vector Inequality Constraints

VectorGreaterEqual — partial ordering for vectors and matrices

VectorLessEqual ▪ VectorGreater ▪ VectorLess

Geometric Computing

Polygons Allowing Holes »

Polygon (updated) — polygons are generalized to polygons with holes

CanonicalizePolygon — generate a canonical representation of polygons

CrossingPolygon — construct a general polygon based on ray-crossing count

WindingPolygon — construct a general polygon based on winding count

PolygonCoordinates ▪ OuterPolygon ▪ InnerPolygon ▪ CrossingCount ▪ WindingCount

Polygon Classes & Properties »

RandomPolygon — generate random polygons of different classes

PolygonDecomposition — decompose polygons into simple, convex, etc. polygons

SimplePolygonQ ▪ ConvexPolygonQ ▪ PolygonAngle

Special Polyhedra

Tetrahedron (updated) — regular tetrahedron

Cube — regular cube

Dodecahedron — regular dodecahedron

Icosahedron — regular icosahedron

Octahedron — regular octahedron

UniformPolyhedron — all uniform polyhedra

General Polyhedra Allowing Voids »

Polyhedron — polyhedron graphics and geometry primitive including voids

CanonicalizePolyhedron — generate a canonical representation of polyhedra

PolyhedronCoordinates ▪ OuterPolyhedron ▪ InnerPolyhedron ▪ CrossingCount ▪ WindingCount

Polyhedron Classes & Properties »

RandomPolyhedron — generate random polygons of different classes

PolyhedronDecomposition — decompose a polyhedron into simple, convex, etc. polyhedra

EulerCharacteristic — give Euler invariant characteristic of a polyhedron

PolyhedronGenus — give the genus or tunnels in a polyhedron

SimplePolyhedronQ ▪ ConvexPolyhedronQ ▪ PolyhedronAngle

Polyhedral Operations

DualPolyhedron — dual polyhedron

BeveledPolyhedron — beveled polyhedron by beveling each edge

TruncatedPolyhedron — truncated polyhedron by truncating vertices

AugmentedPolyhedron — augmented polyhedron by augmenting pyramids on faces

SnubPolyhedron — snub polyhedron by partial truncation and beveling

Geometric Angles

PlanarAngle — the angle between two half-lines, or three points in the plane

DihedralAngle — the angle between two half-planes

SolidAngle — the general higher-dimensional angle of a cone

Geometric Regions

SurfaceArea — give the boundary surface area of a solid

ArcLength, Area, Volume (updated) — now have options for parameters and numerical evaluation

DiscretizeGraphics (updated) — can now discretize all graphics primitives

Synthetic Geometry

GeometricScene — symbolic representation of a geometric scene defined by constraints

RandomInstance — find and display a random instance of a geometric scene

FindGeometricConjectures — find conjectures about a geometric scene

Assertions in Geometric Scenes

GeometricAssertion — assert geometric properties or relations (convex, parallel, congruent, ...)

UnconstrainedParameters — option defining unconstrained points or quantities in a scene

Triangle Functions

TriangleCenter — orthocenter, circumcenter, incenter, ... of triangles

TriangleConstruct — incircle, circumcircle, altitude, ... of triangles

TriangleMeasurement — circumradius, height, ... of triangles

Objects Created by Geometric Constructions

CircleThrough — circle through specified points

Midpoint — midpoint of a line

PerpendicularBisector — infinite perpendicular at the midpoint of a line

AngleBisector — infinite line bisecting an angle

Graphs & Networks

Graph Visualization

GraphPlot (updated) — new look, design and capabilities

GraphPlot3D ▪ LayeredGraphPlot ▪ TreePlot

GraphLayout (updated) — additional force-directed embedding "GravityEmbedding"

PlotTheme (updated) — new "IndexLabeled" theme for graphs

Graph Property Inheritance

Subgraph ▪ NeighborhoodGraph ▪ EdgeAdd ▪ EdgeDelete ▪ VertexAdd ▪ VertexDelete ▪ EdgeContract ▪ VertexContract ▪ VertexReplace ▪ SimpleGraph ▪ ReverseGraph ▪ IndexGraph ▪ ConnectedGraphComponents ▪ WeaklyConnectedGraphComponents ▪ LineGraph ▪ DirectedGraph ▪ UndirectedGraph ▪ GraphIntersection ▪ GraphUnion ▪ GraphDisjointUnion ▪ GraphDifference ▪ GraphComplement ▪ GraphPower ▪ BooleanGraph ▪ FindSpanningTree ▪ TransitiveClosureGraph ▪ TransitiveReductionGraph

Extended Capabilities

Graph (updated) — added support for graph entities

EdgeWeightedGraphQ, VertexWeightedGraphQ — test whether a graph is edge or vertex weighted

Visualization

Complex Function Visualization

ComplexPlot — plot the abs and arg of a complex function over a complex domain

ComplexPlot3D — plot the abs and arg of a complex function in 3D over a complex domain

AbsArgPlot — plot the abs and arg of a complex function over a real domain

ReImPlot — plot the real and imaginary parts of a complex function over a real domain

ComplexListPlot ▪ ReImLabels ▪ ReImStyle

Geo Vector Plots

GeoVectorPlot — plot geo vectors as individual arrows on a map

GeoStreamPlot — plot geo vectors as extended streams on a map

GeoVector, GeoVectorENU, … — representations of geo vectors

GeoMarker (updated) — extended to display geo vectors in maps

Labeling

LabelVisibility — option to weight labels relative to each other

Callout, Labeled (updated) — added labeling support to many functions

Plot3D ▪ ListPlot3D ▪ ParametricPlot ▪ ParametricPlot3D ▪ PolarPlot ▪ ListPolarPlot ▪ RevolutionPlot3D ▪ SphericalPlot3D ▪ DiscretePlot ▪ DiscretePlot3D ▪ RegionPlot ▪ DensityPlot ▪ ListDensityPlot

Multipanel Plots

PlotLayout (updated) — layout option extended to allow multiple plots in a grid

ListPlot ▪ ListLinePlot ▪ DateListPlot ▪ ListStepPlot ▪ ListLogPlot ▪ ListLogLogPlot ▪ ListLogLinearPlot ▪ DateListStepPlot ▪ DateListLogPlot

Uncertainty Visualization

IntervalMarkers — option for how to display uncertainty intervals

IntervalMarkersStyle — option for how to style uncertainty intervals

ListPlot ▪ ListLinePlot ▪ ListStepPlot ▪ DateListPlot ▪ BarChart ▪ ListLogPlot ▪ ListLogLogPlot ▪ ListLogLinearPlot ▪ DateListLogPlot ▪ DateListStepPlot

General Improvements

PlotMarkers (updated) — now follow the plot style

DiscretePlot, DiscretePlot3D (updated) — support scaling functions

Audio & Signal Processing

WebAudioSearch — search for and download audio tracks from external providers

AudioIdentify — identify what an audio signal is a recording of

PitchRecognize — recognize the pitch of an audio signal

Speech

SpeechRecognize — convert speech to text

SpeechSynthesize (updated) — synthesize speech in different languages

VoiceStyleData — access list of available voices and their properties

Machine Learning Integration

FeatureExtractor (updated) — better audio feature extractor based on AudioIdentify

"Audio", "AudioMFCC", … — improved audio net encoders

Annotations

AudioAnnotate — add annotations to an audio object

AnnotationRules — an option to store annotations in an audio object

AnnotationDelete — delete annotations

AudioAnnotationLookup — lookup for specific annotations in an audio object

Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT)

ShortTimeFourier — compute short-time Fourier transform (STFT)

InverseSpectrogram — approximate a signal from magnitude spectrogram

InverseShortTimeFourier ▪ ShortTimeFourierData

General Improvements

AudioBlockMap (updated) — major speed improvement, support for named arguments

HannWindow, HammingWindow, … (updated) — major speed improvement

AudioLocalMeasurements (updated) ▪ AudioIntervals (updated) ▪ Spectrogram (updated)

Image Processing

Computer Vision

ImageCases — find subimages identified as being an instance of an object

ImageContainsQ ▪ ImageContents ▪ ImagePosition ▪ ImageBoundingBoxes

Facial Computation

FindFaces (updated) — improved face detection

FacialFeatures (updated) — improved feature detection, with smaller networks

Image Pyramids

ImagePyramid — construct a multi-resolution image pyramid

InverseImagePyramid — reconstruct the image from an image pyramid

ImagePyramidApply — apply a function to images of an image pyramid

Color Processing

FindMatchingColor — find the shade of a color present in an image

ColorsNear — symbolic representation of a region in color space

ChromaticityPlot3D (updated) — support for specifying color neighborhoods

ColorDetect — find a region with pixel values similar to a given color

ImageRecolor — recolor regions of an image

ColorQuantize (updated) — now can guess the number of colors to use for quantization

Text & Language Processing

Natural Language Processing

TextCases (updated) — greatly expanded coverage of types of elements and entities

TextContents — generate a dataset of identified elements in text

VerifyInterpretation — option for TextCases etc. to check results with Interpreter

Natural Language Interpreter Types

"ColorSet" ▪ "ComputedColorSet" ▪ "ComputedLaser" ▪ "ComputedLightColor" ▪ "Laser" ▪ "LaserClass" ▪ "LightColor"

Word Properties

Synonyms ▪ Antonyms

Text Searching

AddToSearchIndex — add content to an existing search index

Machine Learning & Neural Networks

Machine Learning Applications

SpeechRecognize ▪ AudioIdentify ▪ FindFaces (updated) ▪ FeatureExtractor (updated) ▪ VerifyInterpretation

Supervised Machine Learning

Classify, Predict (updated) — improved "NeuralNetwork" method using self-normalizing neural networks

ClassifierMeasurements (updated) — uncertainty computation & multiclass averaging

Unsupervised Machine Learning

LearnDistribution — learn a generalized probability distribution from arbitrary data

SynthesizeMissingValues — replace missing values in data by generated values

FindAnomalies — find anomalous examples in data

LearnedDistribution ▪ DeleteAnomalies ▪ AnomalyDetection ▪ AnomalyDetectorFunction ▪ RarerProbability ▪ MissingValuePattern

"ContingencyTable" ▪ "GaussianMixture" ▪ "KernelDensityEstimation" ▪ "Multinormal"

Neural Network Framework

NetTrain (updated) — multi-GPU support, automatic early stopping and NumericArray support

TrainingProgressMeasurements — measure performance metrics during training

NetMeasurements — measure performance metrics after training

NetEncoder (updated) — new encoders & multi-language support with "BPESubwordTokens"

NetDecoder (updated) — new decoders & custom decoding with "Function"

NetModel (updated) — new models & access to parameterized families of models

LearningRate ▪ TrainingStoppingCriterion

"OpenAIGym", "SimulatedCartPole" — interfaces to reinforcement learning environments

Neural Network Layers

AttentionLayer — general attention layer over sequences, enabling transformer architecture

NormalizationLayer — perform normalization and rescaling over arbitrary axes

NetMapThreadOperator — map a subnetwork over multiple sequences

NetFoldOperator (updated) — generalization to multiple sequences and constant inputs

PrependLayer ▪ OrderingLayer ▪ ExtractLayer

Geographic & Date Computation

RandomGeoPosition — generate pseudorandom geo positions in a region

Projection Scale & Distortion

GeoGridUnitDistance — local geo distance corresponding to a unit of map distance

GeoGridUnitArea — local geo area corresponding to a unit of map area

GeoGridDirectionDifference — local angular change under projection

Geodetic Vectors & Vector Frames

GeoVector — geodetic vector specified by modulus and direction

GeoGridVector — vector specified by components in the projected coordinates frame

GeoVectorXYZ ▪ GeoVectorENU

Core Improvements

GeoImage (updated) — more flexible specification of ranges, resolution and other input parameters

GeoElevationData (updated) — transform elevation data under geo projections

GeoGridRange ▪ GeoGridRangePadding ▪ GeoResolution ▪ GeoArraySize

Date Manipulation

DateObject (updated) — support for objects with no time zone information

TimeObject (updated) — improved consistency with DateObject

PreviousDate, CurrentDate, NextDate (updated) — added support to day type (e.g. "Weekday", "Weekend", etc.)

Molecular Structure & Computation

Symbolic Molecule Representation

Molecule — a molecule specified by atoms and bonds, name or SMILES string

Atom — symbolic representation of an atom in a molecule

Bond — symbolic representation of single, double, aromatic, etc. bond

Molecular Structure

MoleculeQ — test for a valid molecule

AtomList ▪ AtomCount ▪ BondList ▪ BondCount ▪ BondQ

Molecular Visualization

MoleculePlot — annotatable 2D molecular structure diagram with automatic layout

MoleculePlot3D — 3D molecular rendering allowing automatically generated coordinates

Molecular Graphs

MoleculeGraph — get an annotated graph for a molecule

ConnectedMoleculeQ — test for a single covalently bound structure

ConnectedMoleculeComponents — give a list of independent covalently bound structures

Molecular Property Computation

MoleculeValue — find structural or computed properties of molecules

MoleculeProperty — symbolic representation of a molecular property

Molecular Comparison & Substructure

MoleculeContainsQ — test whether a molecule contains a specified structure

FindMoleculeSubstructure — find where a substructure occurs in a molecule

MoleculePattern — symbolic or SMARTS pattern representing a molecular substructure

Modifying Molecules

MoleculeModify — create a new molecule by editing an existing molecule

Relational Databases

Connecting to Databases

DatabaseReference — reference to an external database (with authentication etc.)

RelationalDatabase — symbolic representation of a relational database and its schema

DatabaseConnect, DatabaseDisconnect — manually connect, disconnect

Registering Database Content

EntityStore (updated) — symbolic representation of a database through an entity store

EntityFunction — pure function representation of a database expression or subquery

Representations of Transformations on Entity Classes

FilteredEntityClass — entity class filtered by a criterion

SortedEntityClass — entity class sorted by properties or functions

SampledEntityClass — entity class formed by sampling a number of entities

AggregatedEntityClass — entity class formed by aggregating entities

ExtendedEntityClass — entity class with properties added for each entity

CombinedEntityClass — entity class formed by combining properties across entity classes

Graph Databases

RDFTriple — a triple in an RDF graph

SPARQLQuery — represent a SPARQL query

SPARQLExecute — execute a query on a SPARQL endpoint

SPARQLSelect — return a list of bindings of variables to their values

SPARQLUpdate — represent a SPARQL update request

RDFStore ▪ SPARQLConstruct ▪ SPARQLAsk ▪ SPARQLAggregate

Systems-Level & External Operations

External Evaluation

ExternalEvaluate (updated) — improved performance

ExternalFunction — direct evaluation of a function in another programming language

ExternalValue — symbol values in another programming language

Controlling Web Browsers

StartWebSession — start an automated web browser session

WebSessionObject — symbolic representation of a web browser session

WebExecute — execute a wide range of commands in a web browser

WebImage — capture an image of a webpage

WebElementObject ▪ WebWindowObject ▪ WebSessions ▪ $CurrentWebSession

Low-Level Network Operations

NetworkPacketTrace — record packets during the evaluation of an expression

File Operations

CopyFile (updated) — support for remote file copying

RemoteFile — symbolic representation of a file on a remote machine

$TestFileName — filename of the currently executing test file

Cloud & Web Operations

Cloud Object Naming & URL Mapping

$CloudObjectNameFormat — format for naming cloud object (UUIDs, user names, etc.)

$CloudObjectURLType — base type of URL for new cloud objects (/obj, /env)

CloudObjectNameFormat ▪ CloudObjectURLType

Blockchains

Blockchain Information

BlockchainTokenData — get information about the usage of a smart contract–defined token

BlockchainAddressData — get information connected with a blockchain address

BlockchainContractValue — get a value from a contract (e.g. a function or Wolfram expression result)

BlockchainKeyEncode — encode a key to get an address, WIF, etc.

Blockchain Transactions

BlockchainTransaction — symbolic representation of a blockchain transaction

BlockchainTransactionSign — use a private key to sign a blockchain transaction

BlockchainTransactionSubmit — submit a transaction for inclusion on a blockchain

BlockchainTransactionData (updated) — additional properties for Ethereum transactions

Cryptography

Hash (updated) — additional hash code types

PublicKey, PrivateKey (updated) — support for elliptic curves

GenerateSymmetricKey (updated) — support for DerivedKey

GenerateAsymmetricKeyPair (updated) — support for elliptic curves

Key Derivation

GenerateDerivedKey — derive a key from a password

VerifyDerivedKey — verify a password from a derived key

DerivedKey — representation of a derived key

Digital Signatures

GenerateDigitalSignature — generate a digital signature using a private key

VerifyDigitalSignature — verify a digital signature using a public key

DigitalSignature — symbolic representation of a digital signature

Import, Export & External Services

FileConvert — convert between compatible file formats

ByteArrayFormat — guess the format of a byte array representing a file content

Export (updated) — now has various overwriting modes

Scientific Formats

"HDF5" (updated) — major export improvement

"FITS" (updated) — various improvements

Spreadsheet

"CSV", "TSV" (updated) — improved partial access

"XLS", "XLSX" (updated) — improved partial access

Text

"Character32" — support for 32-bit characters

Financial Data Service Connections (Wolfram Finance Platform only)

"BloombergTerminal" — access to real-time Bloomberg Terminal data (Windows only)

"BloombergDataLicense" — access to stored Bloomberg Data License data (all platforms)

"Reuters" — access to real-time Reuters data (Windows and Linux only)

Asynchronous Access to External Services

ServiceSubmit — submit an asynchronous request to any external service

ServiceRequest — symbolic representation of a service request

Code Compilation

Creating Compiled Code

FunctionCompile — create a compiled version of a pure function

CompiledCodeFunction — representation of a function implemented with compiled code

Code Annotation

KernelFunction — function to be executed in the kernel rather than in compiled code

Annotation — specify arbitrary hints and annotations for code

Type Specification

Typed — define what type an object is to be taken to have

TypeSpecifier — elements used to construct type specifications

"Boolean" ▪ "UnsignedInteger32" ▪ "UnsignedInteger64" ▪ "Integer32" ▪ "Integer64" ▪ "MachineInteger" ▪ "Real64" ▪ "ComplexReal64" ▪ ...

Exporting Compiled Code

FunctionCompileExport — create an object file by compiling a pure function

FunctionCompileExportLibrary — create a shared library by compiling a pure function

FunctionCompileExportString — give a string of compiled code for a given pure function

FunctionCompileExportByteArray — give a binary form of compiled code

Compilation Options

TargetSystem — the $SystemID of the target architecture for external code

CompilerOptions — detailed options to be passed into the compilation pipeline

Wolfram Function Repository

https://resources.wolframcloud.com/FunctionRepository — function repository home page

ResourceFunction — symbolic representation of a resource function

DefineResourceFunction — create a new resource function

File ▶ New ▶ Repository Item ▶ Function Repository Item — create a notebook for defining a function resource

Knowledgebase Entity Types

Microcontroller Kit

MicrocontrollerEmbedCode — generate, compile and deploy code to microcontrollers

MicrocontrollerCodeData — data from the microcontroller code

Interface to Unity Game Engine

Direct Control & Interaction

UnityOpen, UnityPlay, UnityBuild, ... — open, set play mode and build games

"Wolfram" — custom editor menu items in Unity editor

Interface Functions in Wolfram Language

UnityGameObject — represent a Unity game object

UnityScene ▪ UnityMesh ▪ UnityCamera ▪ UnityTransform ▪ ...

CreateUnityGameObject — create a Unity game object

DeleteUnityGameObject ▪ FindUnityGameObject ▪ ...

Interface Functions in Unity

WolframLanguage — evaluate Wolfram Language code in Unity

Evaluate() ▪ CloudEvaluate() ▪ Information() ▪ ...

Notebook Interface

Mac notebook interface updated to utilize the 64-bit Cocoa API

Linux notebook interface updated to fully integrate Qt 5, allowing all rendering operations to take place without an X server

A—Z (updated) — improved font appearance

Iconize (updated) — improved typeset appearance

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