On 2008-05-29 22:51:16 +0100, Alexey Beshenov <al at beshenov.ru> said:
> On Friday 30 May 2008 01:42, Paul wrote:
>> Is this the usual way to introduce new special functions to Maxima --
>> tell the simplifier how to reduce them to other forms?
>
> No, it's just a trick to simplify "'integrate(foo,x)", where "foo" is a new=
> =20
> function. To define a new function, use "foo (x) :=3D (bar);"
Sorry, I wasn't very clear in my response. I meant that if I have a
function not defined in terms of other "normal" functions like log,
sin, etc, then it could be integrated into Maxima by first defining it
using the ":=" syntax in any way that seems reasonable, then
additionally telling the simplifier how to get rid of it in certain
situations. I wondered if this was a typical way of working in Maxima.
Regards,
Paul