[seqfan] Re: Maple strongly discouraged

Mon Jan 13 07:49:15 CET 2014

True; any version list might not be exhaustive, but a simple line like
"Works on Maple 16, not 17" would surely be useful -- and if someone else
tried it on Maple 10 and it worked, then it's probably good for "10 to 16".

~6 out of 5 statisticians say that the
number of statistics that either make
no sense or use ridiculous timescales
at all has dropped over 164% in the
last 5.62474396842 years.

On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 10:43 PM, <israel at math.ubc.ca> wrote:

> Well, until the next version of Maple comes out, nobody can know for sure
> whether a particular piece of code will work for that version. Is somebody
> going to test every piece of Maple code in the OEIS with each new version
> of Maple? Not I ...
>
> Also, very few people have all existing versions of Maple available, and
> so it's going to be extremely unlikely that for any substantial number of
> Maple programs you'd be able to justify making a statement such as "Maple 5
> to 15".
>
> Robert Israel
>
>
> On Jan 12 2014, Alex M wrote:
>
>  If there is to be a restructuring, it would be worth allowing for ranges
>> of
>> version numbers; i.e. rather than saying "Maple 14", which would leave
>> people in the dark as to whether it works in Maple 10 or Maple 16, better
>> to say "Maple 5 - 15", or something along the lines.
>>
>> I don't know how technically possible this is -- but for a lot of programs
>> it would be really great if there could be whitespace in some internally
>> accessible version, but a condensed version in the inline form. Like
>> listing numbers vs. b-files.
>>
>> ~6 out of 5 statisticians say that the
>> number of statistics that either make
>> no sense or use ridiculous timescales
>> at all has dropped over 164% in the
>> last 5.62474396842 years.
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 7:50 PM, Robert G. Wilson v <rgwv at rgwv.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  I believe that Zak and I suggested version numbers well over a year ago.
>>> Bob.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: SeqFan [mailto:seqfan-bounces at list.seqfan.eu] On Behalf Of Neil
>>> Sloane
>>> Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2014 1:45 PM
>>> To: Sequence Fanatics Discussion list
>>> Subject: [seqfan] Re: Maple strongly discouraged
>>>
>>> Yes, I wasn't really going to mention Mma by name in the warning!
>>> But I was hoping my suggestion might worm its way through Maple's thick
>>> skin.
>>>
>>> I agree that the traditional %p (for maPle) and %t (for maThematica)
>>> lines are a bit outdated, and all the programming fields could be revised.
>>> But that's a job for the future.
>>>
>>> I also agree that adding version numbers (e.g. Maple 15) would be a good
>>> idea.
>>>
>>> We certainly do need to include warnings in the Help etc. pages saying
>>> that because programming languages change so quickly (especially Maple),
>>> programs should be tested before being used, and the OEIS accepts no
>>> responsibility for ... ...
>>>
>>> Neil
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 1:31 PM, M. F. Hasler <oeis at hasler.fr> wrote:
>>>
>>> > Even though I made that little bit sarcastic & exaggerated remark, I
>>> > don't think that Maple should be discouraged and even less that
>>> > Mathematica should be preferred.
>>> > It is somehow normal that a language evolves, and maple has in general
>>> > quite good downward compatibility, the RETURN() function is a
>>> > noticable exception. (Did never understand how they came to think
>>> > about "RETURN()"!) Other languages, the (younger) PARI included, have
>>> > the same or worse issues...
>>> > The name of the programming language should (et least optionally)
>>> > include the version, e.g. Maple V, Maple 10, PARI 2.6, PARI 2.6.1...,
>>> > as I already suggested earlier (and I even put (PARI 2.6.1) instead of
>>> > (PARI) in some submissions but this was not (always(?)) approved....)
>>> >
>>> > Even mathematics changes definitions, e.g. for the primes...
>>> >
>>> > I we are to make amendments in "code" sections, I'd vote for
>>> > uniformization and abolish the privilege of %m and %M tags for Maple
>>> > and Mmca, and/or find 1-2 more tags for the most popular progamming
>>> > languages (I think PARI is no more much behind %m and %M) and/or
>>> > implement a display routine that displays %o lines starting with
>>> > (BASIC) or (PHP) or (PARI 2.6) or the like as <tr><td> PARI v. 2.6<td
>>> > >Axxx = n -> ...</tr> instead of <tr><td> PROGRAM<td >(PARI v. 2.6)
>>> > Axxx = n -> ...</tr> since the latter is less easy to copy-paste.
>>> >
>>> > M.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 2:07 PM, Neil Sloane <njasloane at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > > Dear Seq Fans, Maximilian Hasler has pointed out that my Maple
>>> > > program in A109671 (which worked correctly in Maple 16)  no longer
>>> > > gives correct results in Maple 17 because it used the RETURN()
>>> > > command.
>>> > >
>>> > > The Maple web site says
>>> > >
>>> > > "use of the RETURN procedure is strongly discouraged"
>>> > >
>>> > > and I can see why - it produces incorrect answers (without any
>>> warning).
>>> > Of
>>> > > course I don't see WHY they did this.
>>> > >
>>> > > Now there over 1900 Maple lines in the OEIS that use the RETURN
>>> > statement.
>>> > >  Maybe these lines need a comment saying:
>>> > >
>>> > > # Warning: May give incorrect answers because Maple has changed the
>>> > meaning
>>> > > of RETURN. Suggest switching to Mathematica instead.
>>> > >
>>> > > (Not sure about the second part)
>>> > >
>>> > > I could (and probably will have to) do this with a global edit.
>>> > > Is there any other solution?  It is unethical for us to include
>>> > > programs that give wrong answers.
>>> > >
>>> > > Here's the Maple program that works correctly in Maple 16 but gives
>>> > > wrong answers  in Maple 17:
>>> > >
>>> > > > f:=proc(n) option remember; local t1;
>>> > >
>>> > > > if n = 1 then RETURN(1);
>>> > >
>>> > > > elif n mod 2 = 0 then RETURN(f(n/2));
>>> > >
>>> > > > else t1:= f(n-2)-f((n-1)/2);
>>> > >
>>> > > > if t1 > 0 then RETURN(t1) else RETURN(f(n-2)+f((n-1)/2)); fi; fi;
>>> > > > end;
>>> > >
>>> > > Neil
>>> > > --
>>> > > Dear Friends, I have now retired from AT&T. New coordinates:
>>> > >
>>> > > Neil J. A. Sloane, President, OEIS Foundation
>>> > > 11 South Adelaide Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904, USA.
>>> > > Also Visiting Scientist, Math. Dept., Rutgers University, Piscataway,
>>> NJ.
>>> > > Phone: 732 828 6098; home page: http://NeilSloane.com
>>> > > Email: njasloane at gmail.com
>>> > >
>>> > > _______________________________________________
>>> > >
>>> > > Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
>>> > >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Maximilian
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> >
>>> > Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dear Friends, I have now retired from AT&T. New coordinates:
>>>
>>> Neil J. A. Sloane, President, OEIS Foundation
>>> 11 South Adelaide Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904, USA.
>>> Also Visiting Scientist, Math. Dept., Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ.
>>> Phone: 732 828 6098; home page: http://NeilSloane.com
>>> Email: njasloane at gmail.com
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
>>> Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
>>> Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
>>>
>>>
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