Re: feature request

From: Atsuhito Kohda <atsu10.kohda@gmail.com>
To: mailing list for ConTeXt users <ntg-context@ntg.nl>
Subject: Re: feature request
Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2019 08:31:07 +0900	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <CABHwazXdp+t7xY8J4xpw6TJmq+Wf9SvUfbz=viDaz9+gfrMpxA@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <a86e3394-b102-96d8-30d8-964e5d589b85@gmail.com>

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Hi Henri,
Thanks for your kind explanation.
Generally I understand your point and the ConTeXt philosophy.

> bmatrix, vmatrix, etc. are not defined by default, but
> as you saw from my last message it is trivial to define these,
> especially because templates (matrix:parentheses, etc.)
> for them already exist in the core.

If it is trivial to define bmatrix etc., then I think
it is not bad to provide them in ConTeXt itself but
it seems it violates the ConTeXt philosophy.
I feel it is too strict or too formalism, but this is
only my, very novice user's, naive impression.

Best regards,
Atsuhito Kohda

PS. I'm a Japanese and it takes a bit long time to write
an idea in English.  Sorry for delay.

2019年7月4日(木) 14:48 Henri Menke <henrimenke@gmail.com>:

> The existing definition of \pmatrix in math-pln.mkiv is the original
> Plain TeX definition, because in the very early days ConTeXt used to be
> compatible with Plain.  This tradition has prevailed until today.  You
> will find other remnants of Plain TeX in ConTeXt, e.g. \eqalign, but it
> is better not to use them.
>
> Just like Plain TeX, ConTeXt does not provide \bmatrix and \vmatrix.
> One reason is that they didn't exist in Plain, but another important
> reason is that Hans is not a mathematician.  If I remember correctly
> ConTeXt was originally developed for typesetting of primary school
> textbooks and last I checked matrix algebra was not part of the
> curriculum.
>
> Other developers (Alan, Aditya, and others) have contributed math
> typesetting macros over time, but these follow the ConTeXt philosophy of
> providing strong defaults but trying to avoid feature creep.  Therefore
> bmatrix, vmatrix, etc. are not defined by default, but as you saw from
> my last message it is trivial to define these, especially because
> templates (matrix:parentheses, etc.) for them already exist in the core.
>
> It would sometimes be nice if you could just copy and paste LaTeX code
> into a ConTeXt document and it just works™, but after all ConTeXt is not
> LaTeX.
>
> Cheers, Henri
>
>
>
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