Some advice on the maxima



On 5/19/12 2:57 AM, ?? wrote:
> I've beening puzzled with the function definition of the "plotxd"
> interface of maxima.
> 
> for example :
> 
> plot2d (
> 
> [
> 
> sin(x),
> 
> [discrete, vx, vy],
> 
> [parametric, 10 + 3 * sin(2*t), 2 + 2 * cos(3*t), [t, 0, 2*%pi]]
> 
> ],
> 
> [x, 0, 15] ,
> 
> );
> 
> It's correct, but the definition of the continuous function "sin(x)" is not consiste
>  nt with the that of the "discrete" data sets as well as the "parametric" function. Why not the above code be writen as the following form:
>  
> plot2d (
> 
> [
> 
>      [sin(x), [x, 0, 15]],
> 
>      [discrete, vx, vy],
> 
>      [parametric, 10 + 3 * sin(2*t), 2 + 2 * cos(3*t), [t, 0, 2*%pi]]
> 
> ]
> 
> ); 

It's probably defined this way for historical compatibility.  If you do
not like this, perhaps draw2d would be better suited.  I think it has a
more uniform syntax.  It can also do a lot more.

Ray