Is it possible to change the default ordering of added terms?

asked 2023-09-20 10:12:33 +0100

Smrz
11 ●1

sage seems to have a default ordering for terms added together in an expression. E.g. if I enter

(1-b)

it will be displayed as

-(b -1)

I.e. the variable is always first and the number always second. While -(b - 1) is correct, in some contexts (1-b) is clearer and more conventional. Is there anyway to change the ordering of terms so that entering (1-b) displays as (1-b)?

thanks

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answered 2023-09-28 07:45:15 +0100

Emmanuel Charpentier
7744 ●6 ●50 ●153

updated 2023-09-28 07:47:00 +0100

(Answer added to make it easier to find it while perusing this site)

Is there anyway to change the ordering of terms so that entering (1-b) displays as (1-b)?

Nope.

Sage insists on displaying symbolic expressions in its "preferred order" :

sage: foo=1-x ; foo
-x + 1

This Very Frequently Asked Question has already caused much tears, wails and teeth gnashing ; the examples quoted by Max Alexeyev are but a small sample... As pointed out in one of these, acting on this defaul format woul require deep surgery in ginac code, which is a minefield (with rusty, unstable mines...).

Since the problem is stricly cosmetic, this difficult task is deemed low priority...

HTH,

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