Bug in diff?



--Barton

Leo Butler <l.butler at ed.ac.uk> wrote on 03/10/2011 10:51:37 AM:


>  If you look at the online help for ', you will see this statement:
> 
>  "The single quote does not prevent simplification."
> 
>  As Barton indicates, Maxima considers diff(%phi,t) --> 0 to be a
>  simplification not an evaluation.

There isn't much way for a user to know that. Some functions such as 
limit, sum,
product, .. have both simplify and evaluate, I think.

(%i2) :lisp(get '%derivative 'operators)
SIMPDERIV

(%i2) :lisp(trace simpderiv)
NIL

(%i5) 'diff(%phi,x);
0> Calling (SIMPDERIV ((%DERIVATIVE) $%PHI $X) 1 NIL) 
<0 SIMPDERIV returned 0
(%o5) 0


--Barton