Re: simplifying versions of oddp and friends

On 2/7/10, Barton Willis <willisb <at> unk.edu> wrote:

> Would it be a good to have both simplifying and non-simplifying
> versions of oddp (and related predicates)?

No, having both kinds is asking for trouble.
We should just make oddp and friends simplifying functions.
Maybe all predicate functions likewise; probably ">" and friends,
maybe others, I haven't thought through all of them.

>   limit(hermite(n,x),x,minf) = if oddp(n) then minf else inf
>
> In this context, we need a simplifying oddp function--the
> non-simplifying version makes a mess. If we had a simplifying oddp
> function, limit(hermite(n,x),x,minf) could return a conditional.

Yup, that would be great.

> It might be OK to only have a simplifying oddp function, but that
> could break some code, I think.

I'd rather figure out the right way to do it and just forge ahead.
In this context I'm pretty sure the right way is a simplifying function.

best

Robert Dodier