This is a misfeature (i.e. it is supposed to work this way, but it is a bad
idea) in the way function/array names are evaluated. Unlike normal
evaluation in Maxima, they do 'infinite evaluation'. A simple example:
x: 'y$
y: 'x$
x(1) => infinite loop
x[1] => infinite loop
-s
Tested in
Maxima version: 5.26.0
Maxima build date: 13:32 1/18/2012
Host type: i686-apple-darwin11.2.0
Lisp implementation type: SBCL
Lisp implementation version: 1.0.52.0-11e4aa5
On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 15:16, Leo Butler <l_butler at users.sourceforge.net>wrote:
> The following leads to an infinite loop. Could someone explain why?
>
> f(x,y) := x(1)*y(2);
> f(y,x);
>
>
> --
> Leo Butler <l_butler at users.sourceforge.net>
> SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org
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