Re: [Caml-list] Operator overloading

[Andrej Bauer <Andrej.Bauer@fmf.uni-lj.si>]

To all who like overloading, I dearly suggest that they explain to 
themselves the following bit of Mathematica:

In[1]:= f[v_] = {{1,0}, {1,1}} . (v + {0,1});

In[2]:= f[{0,0}]

Out[2]= {{0, 0}, {1, 1}}

Firstly, if you do not think about the above, you won't even see what's 
wrong. Secondly, once you do see what is wrong, you won't know why it's 
wrong. The problem is caused by the meaning of + and Mathematica 
evaluation strategy.

Explanation of what is wrong:

1) {0,1} is a two-dimensional vector

2) {{1,0},{1,1}} is the 2x2 matrix with rows (1,0) and (1,1)

3) The operator . means, according to the help system:

  In[4]:= ?.
  a.b.c or Dot[a, b, c] gives products of vectors, matrices and tensors.

  For example, multiplying a 2x2 matrix and a 2D vector gives a 2D
  vector:

  In[5]:= {{1,0},{1,1}} . {0,1}

  Out[5]= {0, 1}

4) Clearly, + is addition :-) but in case you do not trust me:

  In[6]:= ?+
  x + y + z represents a sum of terms.

5) The definition of f then says: take v, add to it the vector {0,1}, 
then multiply by the 2x2 matrix {{1,0},{1,1}}.

6) Thus we compute f[{0,0}] by hand according to 5):

    f[{0,0}]
    = {{1,0},{1,1}} . ({0,0} + {0,1})
    = {{1,0},{1,1}} . {0,1}
    = {0,1}

7) Hmm, strange, Mathematica thinks the answer is a 2x2 matrix, and we 
think it's a 2D vector.

Have fun overloading!

I will repeat my suggestion again: when writing serious and complicated 
code, overloading can cause a lot of harm. When manipulating expressions 
such as vectors and matrices interactively, it is convenient to have 
overloaded + etc. Perhaps the right way to solve the dilemma is to have 
a "toplevel on streoids" which intelligently resolves ambiguities. The 
intelligence can then go much further than simple overloading.

Andrej