changing variables in place
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg113010] changing variables in place
- From: Sebastian Schmitt <sschmitt at physi.uni-heidelberg.de>
- Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2010 05:14:53 -0400 (EDT)
Dear all! I'm new to Mathematica with a background mostly in C++. Many times I have the impression that my style is not natural-Mathematica (Mathematicaesque so to say). Consider for example the case where I want to change the value of a variable with the help of a function. I see two ways to do it and would like to discuss its properties with respect to being Mathematicaesque, performance, good-practice, etc. In[27]:= f[x_] := x^2 In[28]:= g[x_] := (x = x^2) In[29]:= SetAttributes[g, HoldFirst] In[30]:= a = 2; b = 2; In[31]:= a = f[a]; a Out[31]= 4 In[32]:= g[b]; b Out[32]= 4 For this very simple example the answer is pretty clear to me. I would prefer f over g, e.g. f can be used with literals. But what if the function performs a costy operation? Is changing variables in place common practice? Thanks a lot, Sebastian