On 07/13/10 08:05 AM, William Stein wrote:
On Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 7:46 AM, Robert Bradshaw
<[email protected]> wrote:
On Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 4:39 AM, Dr. David Kirkby
<[email protected]> wrote:
On 07/ 5/10 06:18 AM, William Stein wrote:
Great idea - you could add an algorithm="axiom" option to sage's
integrate command.
Personally, and I am going to dare risk argue with a mathematician, I would
not have considered Axion an algorithm, but a software package. So something
like "method=use_axiom" would seem more logical to me.
The only argument for "algorithm" is that it's a standard idiom in
Sage (though with a greatly generalized meaning).
Additional arguments:
1. In Python a "method" is a function attached to a class. Thus
the word "method" is already in common use in exactly this context,
and using "method=" could cause confusion.
'method' was only meant as an example. 'software' would all seem more logical
than algorithm.
2. In many cases in Sage, the "algorithm=" option is *clearly*
used to signify a different implementation of a specific algorithm.
This is common the linear algebra code, where there are multiple
implementations of distinct recognizably named algorithms, and the
algorithm= flag helps you switch between them. E.g.,
algorithm="multimodular".
In such cases, it makes sense to use 'algorithm'. I'm less convinced when you
are calling a software package, and asking it to do the work.
3. The code implemented in Axiom defines an algorithm -- it's "the
algorithm for symbolic integration as defined by the axiom
implementation". Likewise for Sympy and Maxima.
William
I'm a bit less convinced of that myself. I would have thought Maxima uses
specific algorithms, so to refer to maxima as an algorithm is not really
accurate. I personally would have thought refering to Maxima as a software
package is more accurate than an 'algorithm'.
Dave
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