van.Nek@gmx.net wrote:
>
> GCL-Maxima has an integer function gcd available at lisp level, which
> is an implementation of GMP-gcd. It is absolutely fast when using big
> numbers. This should be the standard for every integer function in
> Maxima.
Contrary to the needs of number theorists, many uses of Maxima involve doing
arithmetic on relatively small numbers, for example used as integer
indexes into
arrays, or exponents in polynomials.
Using the code that is fast for long numbers would make some programs
run much slower, at least on some systems I have timed.
This may be more an issue for the implementor of Lisp than for Maxima.
RJF