I think the issue is better addressed by re-thinking what the objective
really is. If Maxima returns a taylor series to a program in DrScheme, what
is that program going to do with it?
(a) Nothing -- just display it as an answer to a homework problem
(b) Something serious, like more computation.
In case (a), the original program could be rewritten in Common Lisp, and
loaded in to Maxima.
In case (b), the original program should certainly be rewritten to load in
to Maxima, unless the original poster is interested in writing another
computer algebra system.
If there is a requirement to use Scheme, I suggest loading JACAL into
DrScheme as yet another alternative.
I have often been asked questions like "can I call Macsyma from Fortran".
Sure -- but what does Fortran plan to do with a symbolic list? You want to
write a parser, data structures etc? Why not write in a language that
allows you to write a reasonable program.
For Scheme, the situation is not quite so extreme: mostly you can
read/write Lisp s-expressions. But anything sophisticated will need a lot of
programming on the scheme end.
RJF
> -----Original Message-----
> From: maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu [mailto:maxima-
> bounces at math.utexas.edu] On Behalf Of Stavros Macrakis
> Sent: Friday, September 29, 2006 10:10 AM
> To: Jean-Paul.ROY at unice.fr
> Cc: maxima at math.utexas.edu
> Subject: Re: [Maxima] Talking from Scheme to Maxima
>
> On 9/29/06, Jean-Paul.ROY at unice.fr <Jean-Paul.ROY at unice.fr> wrote:
>
> I need from DrScheme to ask Maxima (MacOS-X) to compute - say - a
> series or an integral....
>
>
> To see the internal format of an expression, use ?print(...).
>
> The main problems you will have in this are the long latency if you start
> a new process each time you need a result, and the fact that Maxima
> occasionally asks the user questions, e.g.
>
> integrate(x^a,x);
> Is a + 1 zero or nonzero?
>
> Good luck.
>
> -s