[Maxima] Errors in the testsuite

[Stavros Macrakis]

On Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 13:10, Robert Dodier <robert.dodier at gmail.com> wrote:

> The use of special variables in Maxima could be cleaned up a lot.
>

Agreed!


> I am imagining stuff like:



> change names to use the *foo* convention,
>

Sounds like a good idea and not risky (assuming we catch all instances of
the variable in one edit).


> replace special variables with lexical variables where possible,
>

Trickier and I think this will only cover a few cases -- the only case I can
think of where a lexical variable can simply replace a special variable
(assuming the special variable is really needed) is when there is a nested
function (lambda-expression).  Of course, code can be reorganized in many
cases to eliminate special variables, but that requires more thought and
work....


> perhaps wider use of CL packages to isolate symbols used in different
> contexts.
>

Good idea in general, for functions as well as special variables.

           -s
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