GSL, FFI, GCL, Windows; was: find_root with bfloats

I agree that the ideal is a library that fits the computer 
algebra way of doing things, sometimes symbolic, sometimes 
numeric.  The GSL is purely numeric, as far as I know.  But 
maxima is missing a lot of numerical capabilities: 
optimization is the one that is prominent for me right now, 
I have to do it in Mathematica and move the results to 
maxima.  I was encouraged by the ease by which Ray converted 
find_root to use bigfloats, and thought something similar 
might be doable with the GSL and its Common Lisp interface.

Admittedly the GSL would solve only the numeric "half" of 
the problem, but that's way better than nothing.

On 09/29/10 12:34 PM, Richard Fateman wrote:
> On 9/29/2010 8:19 AM, Robert Dodier wrote:
>> On 9/29/10, Raymond Toy<toy.raymond at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> You mean having maxima use gsl to implement special functions?
>>>
>>> This (and related) issues has come up before. The main blocking point
>>> is that it doesn't work with all of the Lisps we currently support and
>>> gcl in particular since that is still the primary lisp for distribution.
>>> (I think; I don't build distribution binaries.)
> There is another issue, which is not a disqualification for what GSL
> does, but for what it
> doesn't do. What one presumably would like is a library that fits the
> computer-algebra
> model of what can or should be computed in a sometimes-exact,
> sometimes-high-precision,
> or sometimes-symbolic context.
>
> For example...
>
> f(<rational>) should do something useful, perhaps even returning an
> exact rational.
> f(<bigfloat>) similarly.
>
> Perhaps it should be
> f(<bigfloat>, desired_error_bound) --> bigfloat
>
> perhaps singularities and infinities should somehow work in concert with
> the operations in Maxima. Not that they are necessarily right, currently.:)
>
> and probably
> f(<double-float>). which is likely what GSL does, mostly.
>
>
>
> RJF
>
>
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