> Hi Jeroen! > > On 14 Nov., 00:02, Jeroen Demeyer <jdeme...@cage.ugent.be> wrote: > > At #9704, there is a positively reviewed proposal to rename the > > debugging function trace() to trace_execution() and to use trace() in > > the mathematical sense. > > > > I have nothing to do with that ticket, but I would like to point it out > > in case some people really think that it's a bad idea. > > My 0.02 Euros: > > Since Sage's user interface is based on Python, I find it generally a > bad idea to have a *function* for computing mathematical data: It > should rather be by calling a method! > > So, the computation of the trace of a matrix M, it should be > M.trace(), not trace(M). I am "-1" to introducing a mathematical trace > function. > > On the other hand, due to the lack of grammar in the English language, > it is not clear whether "trace" is used as a noun or not. If you want > "the trace" of a matrix, it is a noun. If it is "to trace" a > computation, it is a verb. So, in order to avoid confusion between the > two notions of trace, one might indeed consider to rename the non- > mathematical trace. > > According to "LEO" (an online dictionary), the awkward German word > "Ablaufverfolgung" is "trace" in the non-mathematical sense, and may > also be translated as "tracing" or "backtrace". > > So, why not have a function "tracing" or "backtrace" in Sage for > tracing a computation and getting a backtrace? > I like your general argument and I like the name backtrace rather than trace as well. I guess a trace method and a trace function could cohabit but that's not ideal.
To add to Dave's comment if I remember correctly in Mathematica the mathematical trace is "Tr". Francois -- To post to this group, send an email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to sage-devel+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URL: http://www.sagemath.org
