More on memq



Stavros Macrakis wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 11:10 AM, Raymond Toy (RT/EUS)
> <raymond.toy at ericsson.com> wrote:
>>  I'd much rather see them all converted to member than leaving the code
>>  in this half-finished state.
> 
> If only this were the least consistent thing in our codebase! We have
> something like 9 different "standard" ways Maxima code performs a+b
> where a and b are in general representation:
>     (simplify (list '(mplus) a b))
>     (simplifya (list '(mplus) a b) nil)
>     (simplus (list '(mplus) a b))  -- probably a bug: blocks pattern-matching
>     (list '(mplus) a b) -- lets the simplification happen later
>     (m+ a b)
>     (add a b)
>     (make-mplus a b)
>     (lapsum a b)
>     (poisco+ a b)   -- probably justifyable so the representation of
> Poisson coeffs can be changed
> 
> And no, I do *not* encourage anyone to go around standardizing these
> -- unless they're actually making major changes to the code to improve
> functionality anyway.

It's one thing to have inconsistencies that have been inherited, but 
it's another when we intentionally introduce them. :-)

I think I have used both m+ and add in various places in the code, 
because that's what they were doing.  Is there a preference for one or 
the other?  We could standardize on one, if, in fact, they are the same.

Ray