Core Algorithms
Parameter Estimation and Testing

Leveraging Mathematica's seamless integration of symbolic and numeric capabilities, Mathematica 8 provides highly automated and efficient parameter estimation and goodness-of-fit testing for the more than 100 built-in parametric distributions and derived distribution constructors. Automatic selection of solvers and optimization routines allows the user to focus on the questions they want to answer instead of worrying about the algorithmic details, while optional settings allow the expert full control over the optimization and specific hypothesis tests if desired. Estimation and testing can be done in a few short lines of code, letting the researcher, analyst, educator, or student quickly move on to the decision-making and report-generation stages of their work.