what do these mean?



On 6/12/07, Stavros Macrakis <macrakis at alum.mit.edu> wrote:

> I don't know why the manual is
> defining f(x) rather than using the expression directly.

If there are two ways to do the same thing, they should both work.

> > I guess the documentation can be updated to cut out the quote mark.
>
> I disagree.  The quote mark should stay, because it is correct usage.  It
> only *happens to work* in some cases without the quote mark.

This is completely backwards. An expression which triggers an
error when evaluated with symbolic values is an ill-behaved expression.
The problem is in that expression, not in plot2d or any other function.

Maxima is a symbolic computation system only to the extent that
expressions can be evaluated for symbolic values.

Robert