Online Algebra Calculator
Many of users do not use powerful Maxima computer algebra system for systematic work, but for ad hoc algebraic calculations – equations, functions, matrixes, etc. only. To do this job, it is not useful to download the whole application from a web site.
Function: copy (<e>) Return a copy of the Maxima expression <e>. Although <e> can be any Maxima expression, the copy function is the most useful when <e> is either a list or a matrix; consider:
(%i1) m : [1,[2,3]]$
(%i2) mm : m$
(%i3) mm[2][1] : x$
(%i4) m;
(%o4) [1,[x,3]]
(%i5) mm;
(%o5) [1,[x,3]]
Lets try the same experiment, but this time let <mm> be a copy of
<m>
(%i6) m : [1,[2,3]]$
(%i7) mm : copy(m)$
(%i8) mm[2][1] : x$
(%i9) m;
(%o9) [1,[2,3]]
(%i10) mm;
(%o10) [1,[x,3]]
This time, the assignment to <mm> does not change the value of <m>.
There are also some inexact matches for copy. Try ?? copy to see them.
(%o1) true (%i2)