On 2/18/2011 8:22 AM, Invisible wrote:

> Mathematica doesn't work this way. The core implements a transformation
> engine, and arbitrary precision math. Beyond that, the parser, the
> printer, the simplification rules, *everything* is Mathematica source
> code, which can be altered at will (if you're so-inclined).
>
> I have no idea about the architecture of Maxima, but it wouldn't
> surprise me. There are advantages to doing it this way. (The main
> disadvantage is performance...)

Yep :) pretty much how Maxima works. You can define your own operators, 
their associativity (if any), precedence, and a number of other things. 
Rules are defined in much the way you described. They're all written in 
Maxima's language. There are a few intrinsic things: assignment, 
function calls, and some other syntax glue.... But just about anything 
can be defined as just about anything else.

-- 
~Mike

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