Subject: keyword names that can't be set in maxima
From: Robert Dodier
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 16:40:44 -0700
On 2/16/07, Stavros Macrakis <macrakis at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> I think it would be a pity to start "locking up" all sorts of symbols as
> keywords.
Agreed.
> -- insist that the user use the quotation mark in these cases: 'limit=...
Well, I wouldn't insist. Why not evaluate keywords like other symbols?
Then the user can use a quote mark if that gives them what they want.
> -- use special syntax for keywords.
The Maxima parser recognizes ?:foo as the Lisp keyword :FOO.
That seems like a workable option.
> -- use a special operator for keywords which doesn't evaluate its first
> argument, e.g. (foo => 23), where => doesn't evaluate foo.
Well, that ties up an otherwise-useful operator, and introduces
a peculiar evaluation rule. Plus it's ugly.
In summary I'm OK with Maxima keywords either as ordinary symbols or
as Lisp keywords.
FWIW
Robert