April 28th beta

[jonmoore]

(05-07-2021 03:10 AM)Joe Horn Wrote:  

(05-06-2021 03:37 PM)maozhitao Wrote:  This is error?

No. When this happens, it means that 'x' is a User Variable created in Home, not a CAS variable. The purge( ) command only handles CAS variable, not Home variables. If you press Home Vars User Enter, you'll see your 'x' User variable. Backspace it to purge it. You can also see and purge User variables in the Memory Manager (Shift Toolbox).

Whilst everything written here is factually correct, I feel it's also a great example of where the Prime UX needs to be improved going forward.

I'm aware there's been endless commentary regarding the elegance of the single view for both approximate and exact calculations on the 50g (and earlier 48 calculators), but I also understand why a separate approximate 'Home' view and exact 'CAS' view has certain advantages. The important thing for me is that general workflows should ideally be the same for both approximate and exact views (otherwise you're creating extra cognitive load).

It must also be stated that neither Casio nor TI have to create separate 'sandboxed' environments for approximate and exact calculations on their CAS calculators and this approach has no user downsides.

Whilst it would be great if it were possible to resolve issues of this nature on the G2/G1 generation of calculators, I also understand that the OS code may make this a more difficult task than it appears. However, I hope lessons are learnt so this added cognitive load is removed on any next-gen HP Prime. I'm guessing the reason things are currently designed the way they are is due to the integration of XCAS but this never led to e.g. separate sandboxes for approximate and exact variables in the past (single-letter variables weren't a restriction in the past either, so I'm sure this factors into the current design as 26 variables shared between approximate and exact sandboxes would have been far from ideal).