On Tue, 2007-05-15 at 20:23 -0500, Doug Stewart wrote:
> I was showing my students how to use Maxima to check their homework.
>
> When I got to this part of the example I got a surprise.
> integrate(sin(x)*cos(x),x)
>
> maxima said it was -cos^2(x)/2 and my book said it was sin^2(x)/2 so I
> looked it up in shaums formula book
> and it said sin^2(x)/2.
>
> So I then plotted up a graph in Octave and was convinced that Maxima is
> wrong.
>
> I then submitted a bug report and someone replied and told me that I
You don't even need calculus -- sin^2(x) + cos^2(x) = 1 is a trig
identity. That still doesn't justify rudeness. The fact that this is a
well-known identity does not imply that someone will see how to apply it
in just the right form in a particular situation.