Hi Harry,
> I'm planning on writing some documentation for maxima programming
> the kind of things to expect, simple concepts about programming for
> mathematicians.
That's an excellent idea. Here is my $0.02.
(1) Do not make your document comprehensive.
There is a reference manual for that.
(2) Focus on the stuff that is peculiar to Maxima.
(3) Above all, be terse, pointed, and pithy.
If you can condense the essentials into a short document
you and your readers will both be happier.
This is math -- less is more.
About item (2), what is peculiar to Maxima? I see this:
Maxima works on expressions; evaluation and simplification;
map, apply, and lambda; built-in object types; Maxima language
syntax; plus some how-to's: function definition, integrate/
differentiate, make a plot, save/load a file.
Of these topics, evaluation is probably the one which
causes the most pain and confusion.
Hope this helps -- keep us posted -- feel free to
follow up if you'd like more comments.
Robert Dodier