[Axiom-developer] )set functions compile on

[Page, Bill]

Tim et al.,

There are some known problems in the current version of Axiom with
certain function definitions in the case of

)set functions compile off

which is the current default state. See

http://page.axiom-developer.org/zope/mathaction/196SetFunctionsCompileOn

Of course we would like to know what causes this problem and to
fix it, but the work-a-round is simply to turn it on.

On page 241 (258 of 1105) the Axiom book says:

When a function is compilable, you have the choice of whether it
is compiled to Common Lisp and then interpreted by the Common Lisp
interpreter or then further compiled from Common Lisp to machine
code. The option is controlled via )set functions compile. Issue
)set functions compile on to compile all the way to machine code.
With the default setting )set functions compile off, Axiom has its
Common Lisp code interpreted because the overhead of further
compilation is larger than the run-time of most of the functions
our users have defined. You may find that selectively turning this
option on and off will give you the best performance in your
particular application. For example, if you are writing functions
for graphics applications where hundreds of points are being
computed, it is almost certainly true that you will get the best
performance by issuing )set functions compile on.

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With gcl on modern computer systems function compilation does
not seem to take any noticeable amount of time. Can you think
of any good reason why

)set functions compile on

should not be the default?

Regards,
Bill Page.