Re: Do loops in Mathematica
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg55177] Re: Do loops in Mathematica
- From: Jon Harrop <usenet at jdh30.plus.com>
- Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 05:35:53 -0500 (EST)
- References: <d15s6o$9l2$1@smc.vnet.net>
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
dumb_founded wrote: > I am having trouble setting up Do loops in Mathematica. Even when I > put in a return statement, I get no output. Below is a concrete > example of code I am putting in: > > Do[{p = Solve[x^2 + 3*x + 1 == 0, x], Return[2*p]}, {i, 1}] > > I get nothing out of it. Yes, by using "Do" you are asking Mathematica to repeatedly do something and _not_ return the answer. You want "Table" instead of "Do": In[1]:= Table[{p = Solve[x^2 + 3*x + 1 == 0, x], Return[2*p]}, {i, 1}] -3 - Sqrt[5] -3 + Sqrt[5] Out[1]= {{{{x -> ------------}, {x -> ------------}}, 2 2 -3 - Sqrt[5] -3 + Sqrt[5] > Return[{{2 (x -> ------------)}, {2 (x -> ------------)}}]}} 2 2 In computer science terminology, it could be said that "Do" is an imperative construct and "Table" is a functional construct. > I am having a headache figuring out this simple chore. Mathematica > simply refuses to behave. Mathematica is doing precisely what you ask it to do. -- Dr Jon D Harrop, Flying Frog Consultancy http://www.ffconsultancy.com