> >> I really think it would be silly to require > >> sage: integrate(x^3,x) > > > I don't find this so silly, especially in an educational setting. I > > am forever telling my students that the "dx" part of an integral > > (definite or indefinite) is not optional. In a definite integral it > > reminds them of the partition of the interval, and in an indefinite > > integral it tells you what the relevant variable is. But a subset of > > students can't be bothered to include it. These are the same students > > who begin a trig-substitution integral with substitutions like x = tan > > (x) and don't get anywhere because they don't see a need to even form > > the differential as part of transforming the integral.
Oh, I do agree! I nearly always include the variable in my demonstrations, unless I forget. My point is that in unambiguous cases, someone who has done a lot of work shouldn't be *required* to use the variable (in Sage, not Python). Because (like the * for multiplication) it is something easy to forget, and (unlike *) there is one sensible answer. > > But personally, I find the variants for specifying variables, and > > their associated ranges, somewhat confusing. I can never quite > > remember if the x is needed or not, and then does it take the form: > > x,a,b or (x,a,b)? > > I now think (x,a,b) should always be *supported*, though it shouldn't > be the only option. > Right, this makes my point exactly. Even if (x,a,b) is what the docstrings ask you to do, because it's least ambiguous, it is easy to check for the other possible interpretations, evaluate them, and raise an exception if the meaning is ambiguous or just plain wrong (which is currently done with integrate). - kcrisman --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sage-devel-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URLs: http://www.sagemath.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
