May I suggest that a choice of base 0 or 1 for vectors, also the numbering
of rows and columns of matrices and arrays, might be left to the user,
whether mathematician or otherwise? Either 0 or 1 might be the default
value, with an option by the user to alter this value, just for the
subsequent session or until reset.
JFO
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007, van Nek wrote:
>
> I think Maxima shouldn't be viewed from a programmers point of view but from a view of a
> user who wants to use a tool for mathematics but hasn't learnt any programming language.
> So indexing 1-based is OK to me.
>
> Volker van Nek
>
> Am 13 Nov 2007 um 16:43 hat Stavros Macrakis geschrieben:
>
>>
>> On Nov 13, 2007 3:21 PM, apeditedirra unasaltao <pi_e_dra at yahoo.es> wrote:
>> suggestion: 0-based lists (like every other language)
>>
>> Traditional mathematical/engineering notation has 1-based indexing for vectors (which are
>> represented as lists in Maxima) and matrices, as do many mathematically-oriented programming
>> languages, such as Fortran and Matlab. Some mathematicians promote 0-based indexing, but
>> that has not become mainstream.
>>
>> -s
>
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