>>>>> "sen1" == sen1 <sen1 at math.msu.edu> writes:
sen1> In gcl, one would define this function as
sen1> (defun f (x) (expt x 2))
sen1> Of course there is a similarity, but these are *not* the same.
Yes, they would only do the samething if x is a real number.
sen1> Where are the definitions of
sen1> MDEFINE, MPLUS, MEXPT etc. in the maxima package.
This is how maxima represents things; they are not functions. MPLUS
is just a symbol to say that the following objects are added. So the
Lisp list
((mplus) '$x 2)
is how maxima represents x + 2.
sen1> Also, what does the
sen1> SIMP
sen1> symbol mean?
I think it's a indicator to maxima's simplifier that the expression
has already been simplified so there's no need to (recursively) look
at the rest of the list to simplify more.
This stuff is partially documented at
http://maxima.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Maxima%20internals
Ray