On Jun 17, 2009, at 7:05 AM, John Cremona wrote:
> > I think is is easier, both on the eye and for a beginner to > understand: > > sage: x = polygen(ZZ) > sage: f = 2*x**2 - x > sage: f.factor() > x * (2*x - 1) > > The effect of the first line is that polynomials in x are elements of > the polynomial ring with integer coefficients. Note the difference > when we switch to rational coeffs: > > sage: x = polygen(QQ) > sage: f = 2*x**2 - x > sage: f.factor() > (2) * (x - 1/2) * x > > Here 2 is the "unit factor" amd the other two are irreducible > polynomials normalised to be monic, which makes sense over a field. > > John Cremona > Is there any particular reason why the x comes at the end instead of (2) * x * (x- 1/2) or (2 * x) * (x - 1/2) or 2 * x * (x - 1/2) just from a formatting perspective, any of these three I would generally prefer. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-support@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sage-support-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-support URLs: http://www.sagemath.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
