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Q&A What do the number entries mean in the sympy poly.diff(...) tuple syntax?

It appears that the tuple syntax works like this: (variable index, order of derivative) Where something like: base = poly(x*y**2 + x, x, y) deriv_mysterious5 = base.diff((0,1)) print('deriv_mysteri...

posted 3y ago by jrh‭  ·  edited 3y ago by jrh‭

Answer
#3: Post edited by user avatar jrh‭ · 2020-09-30T21:30:55Z (over 3 years ago)
  • It appears that the tuple syntax works like this:
  • `(variable index, order of derivative)`
  • Where something like:
  • ```
  • base = poly(x*y**2 + x, x, y)
  • deriv_mysterious5 = base.diff((0,1))
  • print('deriv_mysterious5 is', deriv_mysterious5)
  • ```
  • Means: "Take first derivative of `base` with respect to symbol[0]", in this case symbol 0 is x.
  • - I was not able to find information on how sympy determines which symbol is symbol 0.
  • I think I would recommend the alternative syntax instead:
  • ```
  • base.diff(<symbol>)
  • ```
  • e.g.,
  • ```
  • base.diff(x)
  • ```
  • Though, interestingly, it seems that for higher order derivatives, `poly.diff` has some behavior that seems to differ from `diff(expr,...)` as seen on the [Calculus](https://docs.sympy.org/latest/tutorial/calculus.html#derivatives) page.
  • This syntax works:
  • ```
  • base.diff(y, y)
  • ```
  • I was not able to get this syntax working:
  • ```
  • base.diff(y, 2)
  • ```
  • But a slightly modified version of this does work,
  • ```
  • base.diff((y, 3))
  • ```
  • It appears that the tuple syntax works like this:
  • `(variable index, order of derivative)`
  • Where something like:
  • ```
  • base = poly(x*y**2 + x, x, y)
  • deriv_mysterious5 = base.diff((0,1))
  • print('deriv_mysterious5 is', deriv_mysterious5)
  • ```
  • Means: "Take first derivative of `base` with respect to symbol[0]", in this case symbol 0 is x.
  • - I was not able to find information on how sympy determines which symbol is symbol 0.
  • I think I would recommend the alternative syntax instead:
  • ```
  • base.diff(<symbol>)
  • ```
  • e.g.,
  • ```
  • base.diff(x)
  • ```
  • Though, interestingly, it seems that for higher order derivatives, `poly.diff` has some behavior that seems to differ from `diff(expr,...)` as seen on the [Calculus](https://docs.sympy.org/latest/tutorial/calculus.html#derivatives) page.
  • This syntax works:
  • ```
  • base.diff(y, y)
  • ```
  • I was not able to get this syntax working:
  • ```
  • base.diff(y, 2)
  • ```
  • But a slightly modified version of this does work,
  • ```
  • base.diff((y, 2))
  • ```
#2: Post edited by user avatar jrh‭ · 2020-09-30T21:29:04Z (over 3 years ago)
  • It appears that the tuple syntax works like this:
  • `(variable index, order of derivative)`
  • Where something like:
  • ```
  • base = poly(x*y**2 + x, x, y)
  • deriv_mysterious5 = base.diff((0,1))
  • print('deriv_mysterious5 is', deriv_mysterious5)
  • ```
  • Means: "Take first derivative of `base` with respect to symbol[0]", in this case symbol 0 is x.
  • - I was not able to find information on how sympy determines which symbol is symbol 0.
  • I think I would recommend the alternative syntax instead:
  • ```
  • base.diff(<symbol>)
  • ```
  • e.g.,
  • ```
  • base.diff(x)
  • ```
  • Though, interestingly, it seems that for higher order derivatives, only this syntax is supported:
  • ```
  • base.diff(x, x, x)
  • ```
  • I was not able to get this syntax working:
  • ```
  • base.diff(x, 3)
  • ```
  • It appears that the tuple syntax works like this:
  • `(variable index, order of derivative)`
  • Where something like:
  • ```
  • base = poly(x*y**2 + x, x, y)
  • deriv_mysterious5 = base.diff((0,1))
  • print('deriv_mysterious5 is', deriv_mysterious5)
  • ```
  • Means: "Take first derivative of `base` with respect to symbol[0]", in this case symbol 0 is x.
  • - I was not able to find information on how sympy determines which symbol is symbol 0.
  • I think I would recommend the alternative syntax instead:
  • ```
  • base.diff(<symbol>)
  • ```
  • e.g.,
  • ```
  • base.diff(x)
  • ```
  • Though, interestingly, it seems that for higher order derivatives, `poly.diff` has some behavior that seems to differ from `diff(expr,...)` as seen on the [Calculus](https://docs.sympy.org/latest/tutorial/calculus.html#derivatives) page.
  • This syntax works:
  • ```
  • base.diff(y, y)
  • ```
  • I was not able to get this syntax working:
  • ```
  • base.diff(y, 2)
  • ```
  • But a slightly modified version of this does work,
  • ```
  • base.diff((y, 3))
  • ```
#1: Initial revision by user avatar jrh‭ · 2020-09-30T15:50:48Z (over 3 years ago)
It appears that the tuple syntax works like this: 

`(variable index, order of derivative)`

Where something like:

```
base = poly(x*y**2 + x, x, y)
deriv_mysterious5 = base.diff((0,1))
print('deriv_mysterious5 is', deriv_mysterious5)
``` 

Means: "Take first derivative of `base` with respect to symbol[0]", in this case symbol 0 is x.

- I was not able to find information on how sympy determines which symbol is symbol 0.

I think I would recommend the alternative syntax instead:

```
base.diff(<symbol>)
```

e.g.,

```
base.diff(x)
```

Though, interestingly, it seems that for higher order derivatives, only this syntax is supported:

```
base.diff(x, x, x)
```

I was not able to get this syntax working:

```
base.diff(x, 3)
```