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[Axiom-developer] RE: DistributedExpression (was: How can I get every te
From: |
Martin Rubey |
Subject: |
[Axiom-developer] RE: DistributedExpression (was: How can I get every term of an expression ?) |
Date: |
Thu, 22 Sep 2005 11:24:03 +0200 |
Page, Bill writes:
> On Wednesday, September 21, 2005 8:52 AM Martin Rubey wrote:
> >...
> > Well, output is easily changed.
>
> Yes, you are right. As usual, I just wish we had more
> documentation: both user documentation (how-to) and
> conceptual documentation (why).
>
> Axiom's approach to output as a coercion to the type OutputForm is radically
> different than any other computer algebra system that I know.
Yes.
> There is an attempt also in Axiom to do the same with input (InputForm and
> SExpressions etc.)
I think that this attempt is doomed to fail. Still it may be useful, at least
for debugging.
> Understanding how to use types and domains in Axiom is both "90% of the
> problem" and "90% of the reasons why one might want to use Axiom in the
> first place". We need to write more about this ...
No. There is enough written about it (in the Aldor User Guide). A short
introductory text is in the Axiom book.
> But I think there is much more to this concept and that the current Aldor
> and SPAD syntax does not sufficiently highlight the important place that it
> holds. The current syntax, i.e. 'rep' and 'per' as macros and 'Rep' as a
> distinquished name for a local domain, seems to treat representation on a
> par with other programming constructs.
And this is a good thing, it seems to me.
> I just spent a couple of hours trying to add a new operation called 'terms'
> to the DistributedExpression domain. The idea was that it should return a
> List of Expressions in analogy with the 'monomials' operator of POLY, but I
> kept getting hung up on vague SPAD compiler messages and picky details for
> explicitly specifying domains... After all this time I still do not feel
> fluent in SPAD/Aldor but for some reason I continue to admire it greatly
> when I see something that works! :)
If you send me your code and the error message you got (the latter for
cross-checking), I'll try to help.
> Yes, I do agree that "cosmetics" is useful. In fact I have been know to
> claim that "notation is (almost) everything" in mathematics
> ...
NO, NO, NO. Good notation is important, and I'd agree if you'd say that
mathematics builds on good notation. But it's not nearly "almost everything".
What (good) notation provides is a means to make your ideas and proofs clear
and enable others to follow them. The idea comes before the notation. Often
even the proof comes before the notation.
Martin
- [Axiom-developer] RE: DistributedExpression (was: How can I get every term of an expression ?), Page, Bill, 2005/09/21
- Re: [Axiom-developer] RE: DistributedExpression (was: How can I get every term of an expression ?), C Y, 2005/09/21
- [Axiom-developer] RE: DistributedExpression (was: How can I get every term of an expression ?),
Martin Rubey <=
- [Axiom-developer] RE: DistributedExpression (was: How can I get every term of an expression ?), Bill Page, 2005/09/22
- [Axiom-developer] Philosophy..., Martin Rubey, 2005/09/22
- Re: [Axiom-developer] Philosophy..., C Y, 2005/09/22
- Re: [Axiom-developer] Philosophy..., M. Edward (Ed) Borasky, 2005/09/23
- [Axiom-developer] Static versus Dynamically typed (was: Philosophy... ), Bill Page, 2005/09/23
- Re: [Axiom-developer] Failure of Axiom? (was: Static versus Dynamically typed) ), William Sit, 2005/09/23
- Re: [Axiom-developer] Failure of Axiom? (was: Static versus Dynamically typed) ), Martin Rubey, 2005/09/23
- RE: [Axiom-developer] Failure of Axiom? (was: Static versusDynamically typed) ), Bill Page, 2005/09/23
- RE: [Axiom-developer] Failure of Axiom? (was: Static versusDynamically typed) ), Bertfried Fauser, 2005/09/23
- Re: [Axiom-developer] Failure of Axiom? (was: Static versusDynamically typed) ), M. Edward (Ed) Borasky, 2005/09/24