On Thu, 2002-04-18 at 09:48, Richard Fateman wrote:
> It was a policy in the macsyma design that certain programs
> which could perhaps result in a simpler answer would NOT
> be used automatically because they could, in some circumstances,
> take a very long time to complete. Factor() is one of
> them. Factor could in some cases improve the appearance
> of almost any command. In other cases it could do lengthy
> and pointless calculations.
> Another program that is often effective but not automatically
> used is radcan.
<snip>
> James Amundson wrote:
> > Does it make sense to add an explict "factor" in the code when the
> > relevant routine is called?
I'm sold on the above answer.
--Jim